Mission: It's a Bet!
by DancesWithSeatbelts
Summary: Rent! The bane of Lucy's existence. Lucy wants to solo, but Natsu insists on assisting. Meddling Mira adds spice to the mix and instigates a bet. Can Natsu fight bandits without destroying property? Will Lucy win her rent jewels or submit to Natsu's demands? Delightful Implied limes in later chapters. Implied Lemons. It really depends on reviews. Link to full version on profile.
1. Chapter 1: It's a Bet!

Lucy stood in front of the mission board, studying the various flyers. The guild was slowly filling up with the usual suspects. It was getting close to rent day and she needed a good paying job that could be finished quickly.

"What's up Luce?" Natsu peered over her shoulder. "Didja find one with bandits for me to fight? How about something with monsters?"

The blonde celestial mage allowed a frown to cross her face. "I was thinking of going solo this time Natsu. My rent is due and you know the destruction you cause eats into the bottom line."

"Yeah, you know, I am hungry. Let's get breakfast and talk about our next mission." Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her away from the board and towards the bar. "Hey, Mira! We'll have two breakfast specials!"

"Coming right up!" Mira chirped. She looked at Lucy's glowering expression. "What's going on with you Lucy?"

Lucy extracted her hand from Natsu's grasp. She sat down and crossed her arms. "Well, I was thinking of going solo on my next mission and this flame-brain can't get it through his skull. Damages always seem to pile up and it costs me lots of jewels, jewels I need to pay my rent."

Natsu had been looking at Lucy with his fang tipped grin. As she spoke the happy light filling his eyes dimmed. _**Man, I just want to help**__..._ He shifted uncomfortably on his bar stool. "Lucy, I promise no destruction this time. Dragon scout promise!"

Mira placed their servings in front of them. "A promise is a good start, but how about a bet?" She clapped her hands and slyly grinned. "You have to bet each other something important to keep you from breaking the promise."

"Why do I have to promise anything? I don't create havoc and wreck everything!" Lucy toyed with her food.

_**That's not strictly true Luce. You wreck my concentration ALL the time - right now your short skirt and long lacy socks are...**_ Natsu looked into Lucy's deep brown eyes, "I think a bet is the way to go. I will prove to you that I can keep from destroying things. Matter of fact, I know what I want when I win. You will let me sleep in your bed anytime I want - and no complaining."

The barmaid giggled as Lucy flushed and clenched her fists. "You sleep with me all the time whether I want you to or not! You're always sneaking in late at night! Baka!"

"Oi! I don't think you kept listening! The important part is the no complaining!" The dragon slayer was very pleased with his portion of the bet. "Your bed is super soft. Kinda like you, squishy and smells good."

Mira hid a grin as Lucy began to grind her teeth and Natsu just sat there eating his food oblivious to her fuming. "Lucy, I think you need to accept this challenge and I know just what you should bet against him."

Lucy made eye contact with Mira. "I'm listening..."

Mira fiendishly grinned and said, "It's pretty simple. If he can't keep from destroying property, Natsu will be responsible for your rent! It's a win-win! Either which way, your rent will be paid for! I know the perfect job for you guys to take." She reached under the counter and slapped down a new mission. "It pays 200,000 jewels and should only take a few days. There's a small gang of bandits terrorizing a small village with a beautiful hot spring."

Mira and the blonde exchanged evil smiles. "It sounds super! A short mission, a stay at a hot spring and Natsu pays my rent! Oh, I love hot springs. I wonder if they have a spa, and room service..."

"Hey, why do you assume I'm gonna lose the bet?" Natsu was indignant.

Lucy and Mira exchanged incredulous looks and then burst out in giggles. "Oh, that's rich! I can prove you're destructive with one easy request." Mira rummaged behind the bar and mixed a cocktail. She settled it in front of Natsu and brandished a match. "Ok, light this for me."

Swoosh! Mira watched the fireball ignite the match and glass of booze simultaneously. The high octane drink blazed so high it threatened to combust the timbers of the ceiling. Lucy stumbled off her barstool, worried that the bar maid would be incinerated with the beverage. Natsu's cocky smile dropped and became sickly.

Calmly, Mira smothered the fiery drink. "This is how I know Lucy is going to win." She made shooing motions with her hands. "You need to go and pack. Those bandits aren't going to catch themselves!"

Levy walked up to the bar after Natsu and Lucy left the guild still bickering. "Why are you so pleased with them taking this mission?"

The white-haired woman allowed her small smile to widen. "Well, I may have forgotten to tell them it's a love hot-spring." She twittered and rubbed her hands like a B rated movie villain. "Their babies will be so cute! Hey, there's another new mission I haven't posted just yet...I think it's perfect for you and Gajeel's skills."

The petite blue haired girl's smile faltered as the considerable power of the match-making demon focused on Levy. "Um, ah, ah..." she stuttered. "I'm a go now! Bye!" Levy turned and dashed away. Flustered she ran with her head down and smacked into Gajeel and Lily.

"Oi, shrimp! What's got your panties in a twist?" The iron dragon slayer smirked.

She blushed and stammered, "Ah, n-n-n-nothing! Just in a hurry, so please excuse me."

Lily and the dragon slayer exchanged glances as Levy scurried off. "Gajeel, you let another perfect chance slip through your fingers. The next time she runs into you, you should 'fall' over and enjoy some full body contact."

A semi-evil smile grew on the metal festooned man's face. "You're right. Ghee hehehe! I'm glad you're my cat!"


	2. Chapter 2: I Raise Your Bet!

Lucy was digging through her closet, intent of finding the perfect mission clothes. She held up outfit after outfit; dismissing one for being too long, another for being too heavy and several for being boring. _**What the hell am I being so concerned with? It's just another mission with my best friend. We're going to fight some bandits and relax at a hot-spring.**_The blonde remembered one last item buried at the back of the closet and began to tug it loose.

Natsu jumped to her bedroom window and began watching as Lucy's backside wiggled and danced as she wrestled with her clothes_. __**Nice! Oh, Lucy bend over just a bit more! **_Silently he slipped through the window and slinked to her bed and sat down, still watching Lucy rummage through her clothes.

"Damnit, let go!" Lucy muttered as she gave one last mighty heave and pulled the yukata free from the closet. She stumbled and crashed backward. Wind milling her arms she fell backwards and was suddenly held steady by a strong set of arms. Startled, she crushed her heel on the instep of the intruder and fiercely elbowed the gut of her assailant. She gasped and began a strong inhalation to scream for help. Her attacker clapped his hand over her mouth.

The pink-haired intruder winced and stumbled in pain. "Lucy, it's just me! Don't scream! I thought you knew I would come over when I was done packing!"

Furious, Lucy struggled with Natsu. "Mmmfff! Nnnghh!" The adrenaline rush was still surging through her veins, keeping her heart beat accelerated and lungs heaving. Her mind started calming down and she took stock of her situation. Natsu held her in the steel bands of his arms, one elbow wedged in her breasts; that hand covering her mouth and the other arm directly against her breasts. His legs straddled hers and her butt was pressing against something...warm.

_**Man, oh man! Lucy is gonna kick me upside the head!**_"Promise not to hurt me and I'll let go." He felt Lucy nod in agreement and slowly disengaged. "Remember Celestial mages never break their promises."

Angrily Lucy whirled around and shoved him so that he fell back onto the bed. "Oh my god Natsu! Can you use the door once in a while? You scared 10 years off my life with that stunt!" Her eyes lit up with passion as she continued berating Natsu. "Why do you continually sneak into my apartment? At least Happy isn't here to add to my aggravation! What's with the look on your face? Is my being angry, funny to you?"

The more Lucy crabbed at Natsu, the wider he smiled. _**Oh Lucy, you're even more beautiful when you're angry.**_ "Um, no. I'm sorry I scared you. We always meet up before a mission. I finished getting ready an hour ago. We've got to catch the train soon."

"Oh..." Lucy visibly deflated. "I guess I let time run away from me. Sorry I yelled, but you really did scare me."

"No worries Luce! You'll make it up to me when I win our bet." Natsu pushed himself upright on Lucy's bed. "Dragons pack light anyway. It didn't take me long to get my baggage together."

"Oh, I'm going to win this bet Dragon-boy. And then you will pay my rent and I will still have my half of the reward to spend!" Pleased with herself, Lucy strutted over to her luggage and finished packing. "And best of all is relaxing in the hot-spring."

_**I think best of all is spending time with you, Luce.**_ "I'm going to win the bet Luce." Picking up both their bags, the muscular young man strode to the door and opened it. "After you Lucy!"

Bemusedly, the blonde shook her head and led the way out of her apartment and down the street to the train station. Every step closer toward the train brought more green to Natsu's face. "Hey Natsu! Do we need just two tickets or three? Where has Happy been?"

"Didn't I tell you? He's visiting the other exceeds with Wendy and Charle. They've been gone three days already. Weirdo."

She shot him a laser glare, "No, you didn't. Never mind that. I'll get the tickets and be back shortly. Hot springs here we come!"

In the train compartment Lucy sat with Natsu's head on her lap, running her fingers through his pink locks. She hummed softly and watched his chest softly rising and falling, amazed that such a simple thing gave his motion sickness ease. Three hours later they pulled into Balsam station.

"Oi, Luce! I'm really hungry! What say we check into some rooms and grab some grub?" Natsu stretched and yawned hugely. "I hope they have fire chicken. I sure slept good - I don't even remember falling asleep." He picked up their bags and headed down the main street. The late afternoon light shone golden, highlighting small storefronts and taverns interspersed with houses.

Lucy followed slightly behind, taking the time to scope out the scenery. "Yeah, I need to freshen up. Every time I tried to move around on the train you grabbed at me and wouldn't let me go."

In front of Lucy, the pink haired man blushed. _**I'm not sure why, but having you near always makes me feel better.**_ "Hey, here's the hotel mentioned in the mission. It sure is big for such a small town." The hotel was flanked by gardens criss-crossed with gravel paths. An ornate fence guarded the entrance and followed along the sidewalk.

"Wow, this sure is nice! So nice I don't think I could afford this place if we weren't doing a job here." Lucy pushed past Natsu and eagerly walked up to the reception desk. "Hello, we're here to solve your bandit problems in town. We'd like to check into our rooms; by the way, can you recommend a good restaurant?" She beamed a friendly smile to the fussily dressed man behind the counter.

"Welcome to Balsam, home of the famous hot springs. I can direct you to any number of dining establishments, but we are only providing one room in compensation. As soon as the bandits are vanquished, we will be inundated with paying customers."

Lucy's friendly smile dropped abruptly. She inhaled strongly, about to unleash her inner bitch but was knocked off balance by Natsu hip checking her.

"Hey, no need to get upset Lucy! We can share the room. It's no big deal, you don't snore **that** loud." He grinned and added, "You need to settle down. I worry you might destroy town property if you keep yourself so high-strung!"

Her lips thinned and she spoke through clenched teeth, "That sounds wonderful. One room will be plenty. Can you send a maid up with extra pillows to smother my companion with?"

"Oh, ho! Such a kidder my valued co-worker is! Just give us the room key and we'll settle in and your bandit problem will disappear faster than Lucy can drink the mini-bar!"

"Certainly sir, good luck with that." The manager held out the room key. "Room seven, straight down the hall. The last door on the right. Best food in town is my cousin's tavern, Oscar's Place. Enjoy your stay."

Inside room seven, Lucy stomped from the entrance to the sliding glass door of the patio and peered outside. Clusters of vines and potted plants were artfully placed to give privacy to each room. The blonde felt most of her anger evaporate. Just having one room was an inconvenience, but at least the room was spacious and well appointed. "You're lucky I'm such a nice person, Natsu. I should have insisted on separate rooms."

He looked back at Lucy after setting the luggage down on the king size bed. "You mean that way I wouldn't have to listen to you snoring? But we are sharing and now I'll have to hear you snore with my powerful dragon hearing. Doesn't sound so nice to me!"

She crossed her arms over her breasts. "What?! I do **not** snore! I just meant that you would have to pay for the extra room because this is **my** mission and you're just tagging along. **That** is what makes me nice!"

Natsu shrugged. "Care to add to the bet?"

"You're on!"


	3. Chapter 3: Almost time for Bed

Oscar's Place was a dimly lit cozy tavern located adjacent to the hotel. The decor was chic and minimalist. The hostess sat the two mages at a corner table with a view of a large picture window. The warmth of the day eased and the cool evening began. The far-off mountains appeared multi hued in dark purples.

After perusing the menu and placing their orders Lucy and Natsu warily exchanged glances. "So are you ready to apologize, Natsu?" The blonde patted Natsu's clasped hands on top of the table.

He looked askance at his teammate and prudently pulled his hands into his lap. "Um, what do I have to apologise for? For saying you snore?" _**You do snore, cute little snuffling snores.**_ Suddenly his face brightened, he remembered a lesson beaten into him/learned from Erza. "I'm very sorry you snore Lucy, please forgive me. Let's not fight each other."

Lucy's mouth gaped open, she caught herself and face palmed with a loud slap. "You know, we're going to have to agree to disagree- but I am not backing down from increasing our bet. You will be responsible for this and next month's rent if you rampage and destroy property on this mission."

Natsu sat quietly and contemplated Lucy's challenge. "Well, I don't have a problem with that because I will win. I hope you are prepared to pay out." _**Though I wish I could ask you to put out...oh that's a good idea.**_ He smirked and leaned forward, "When I win the right to sleep in your bed; I want you to tuck me in, tell me a bedtime story and give me a goodnight kiss. No fair making it quick either, at least 10 minutes or you're a whelsher."

The blonde's eyes bulged close to out of their sockets as she hissed at Natsu. "There is no way I am giving you a 10 minute good night kiss you pervert!"

The waiter arrived with drinks and many platters of food. "Hello, I'm your server tonight. My name is Jaxon and I will bring the dessert menu out later. What a healthy appetite you have Miss. Might I suggest, Miss, if your gentleman is paying for all of this, you should spend at least 15 minutes kissing him."

Apoplectic with rage, Lucy was unable to utter anything to the server and glared daggers at her nakama. She started silently counting to 10 hoping to calm down. At twenty, she felt slightly less homicidal, but when she reached 30 she was interrupted.

"I don't know why you're so upset Lucy! You're a writer! You should have an easy time making up a bedtime story. After 10 minutes I should be asleep anyway." Natsu picked up a piece of fire chicken and started mowing down. "I never got to be tucked in after Igneel disappeared, never heard anymore bedtime stories or got bedtime forehead kisses. All the stories Happy knows involve fish and I prefer ones about dragons." He gave her as earnest a look as he was able. "You don't even think I could win. That kinda hurts my feelings."

The Celestial Mage sat utterly embarrassed. _**Oh, crap! He wants a Mother/Father substitute! Stupid, stupid Lucy! I should have known better, he wouldn't be after a make-out session.**_ "I'm so sorry Natsu. I jumped to conclusions." Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, "I really am sorry..."

"Well you could make it up to me tonight and practice for when I win the bet. Don't forget to put lots of fighting in my Bedtime Dragon Story." The pinkette grinned and refilled his pie hole, "Thish is real good Lushy! Eat up!"

Both reassured with Natsu's forgiving nature and freshly irritated with his assurance of winning the bet, Lucy tucked into her food. Several refills of drinks later, they decided against dessert, paid the bill and left. The sun was just sliding behind the distant mountains, throwing a dark blanket over the landscape. Picking a direction at random, the two mages sauntered towards the center of town, which happened to be a large park. It featured many mature trees and an ornate fountain.

"Ah, that hotel manager wasn't kidding Luce ! Best food in town!" Natsu rubbed his stomach, turned his head and gave a discreet burp. "That's better! Why don't we hike around town more and look for bandits?"

Lucy felt a little unsteady. She was aware Natsu was talking to her, but having watched him run his hands over his tanned and toned abs made her derail her train of thought. Unaware he expected a reply she stood in place and fantasized. _**Aren't you hot Dragon boy? You want to take that vest off don't you? Show off that Best Body in town! **_

"Hey, are you okay Luce?" Natsu placed his arm around Lucy's shoulders and peered concernedly into her eyes. "I don't know if you're up to fighting bandits right now. How many of those tall tea drinks did you have?"

Screwing up her face in concentration Lucy thought about the answer to that. "Um, I think four or five...Why?" She giggled lightly. "Tall teas! No! Long Island Iced Tea was what they were called. Tea is an anti-oxidant, it's good for you." Emphasizing her point she prodded the hard muscled mass of his pectoral. "If one is good, then more is better! Oh, it's a beautiful evening." She turned in Natsu's embrace and leaned against his chest. "I'm still sorry I was so mean earlier. I know we're nakama..." _**I'm just realizing I want more from you.**_

Natsu could smell booze on her breath without even trying. "I don't think it was only just tea in those drinks. We'll have to hunt those bandits tomorrow. We can talk to the mayor and see which businesses have been targeted. Right now we need to get you to bed." _**My bed, that would be nice.**_

Giggling more, Lucy stumbled further against her nakama. "I vote first a hot spring soak and then we get in bed." She grinned and grabbed Natsu's hand. "I want a soak! You too! Make it nice and hot!" _**Hot, hot Dragon boy!**_ She began tugging him back to the hotel. "You promise?"

Bemused, Natsu agreed. "We can soak, then it's bedtime. Start thinking about a Dragon story. I - "

From a dark alley, three figures clad head to toe in black emerged and surrounded Natsu and Lucy. One bandit stood head and shoulders above the others. He spoke in a gruff voice, "Hand over your valuables and we won't have to resort to violence. Don't be a hero, lover boy. You don't want your chick to see you get beat up, do you?" He made a big show of smacking his fist into his palm and the other two criminals each brandished knives.

"Get behind me Lucy!" Natsu commanded. "Look, you really don't want to start a fight with me - "

Lucy interjected, "Yeah, 'cause he'll destroy you and the town too!" She giggled. "You know what? You **should** fight! Mama needs her rent paid! Get'em Natsu! You bandits are gonna get it now!"

Natsu feinted at the lead criminal, spooking him into stepping back. The knife wielders started edging to either side of the dragon slayer. "Lucy, keep back, okay? I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Yah, it sure would suck if such a hot piece of ass got hurt." Hoodlum "A" elbowed hoodlum "B". "After we kick this guys ass let's show her a real good time." They both guffawed loudly. "What a rack!"

Flames erupted all over Natsu's body. "You shut up about Lucy. You will regret every word spoken on the subject of my Lucy."

The boss bandit smirked, "You're not the only mage here. Shadow bind!" He gestured and ropes of shadow danced into existence coiling around Natsu. The other bandits laughed and started after Lucy. "Save some of that fine ass for me boys. I'll be over there soon as I dispose of this fire freak."

"I don't like your attitude." Lucy glared at the hoodlums. "You have interrupted what was a very pleasant evening. I think, **I** will teach you a lesson in how to respect women!"

"Har har de har!" The middle hoodlum licked his lips. "I'll give you a lesson on pleasing me!" He made eye contact with his cohort and they started getting closer to the celestial mage.

Lucy knew she had many spirits ready and waiting to help her. The adrenaline of battle was providing clarity for the intoxicated mage. "I am not a weak helpless woman. I deserve respect. I won't let you treat me this way." She turned and sprinted back to the park. _**I know I saw a fountain - they will be sorry! Bunch of ass clowns ruining my night!**_

Natsu's fire burned brighter and brighter. The lead criminal punched at the dragon slayer over and over, delivering a flurry of blows. The grunts and smacks of flesh on flesh echoed in Lucy's ears. The fire enveloping Natsu blazed hotter and the links of shadow rope disintegrated into ash.

"You're outta luck criminal." Natsu launched a return offence of powerful punches. With every snap of his fist, he hissed in fury. "Never. Disrespect. Women. Again!" He beat the bandit unconscious. He smirked and gave his foe a kick to the ribs. "That is for running your mouth about my Luce!" Natsu turned away and sped toward the park where he had seen Lucy running.

Lucy was justifiably angry. _**I was 10 minutes away from relaxing with hot dragon boy in the hot springs...then into bed with hot dragon boy...I'm super fired up!**_ She sprinted to the fountain and plunged Aquarius' key into the water. "Open gate of the water maiden!" Dramatically the beautiful mermaid appeared. With a disdainful lift of one eyebrow she stated, "You're drunk. But these scum have disrespected women and they shall pay for their misdeeds."

"I'm really only more like buzzed now, but yeah! Teach them a lesson!" Lucy shook her fist at the two bandits still running towards her.

Hoodlum "A" elbowed hoodlum "B" and chortled, "Hey it's another hot babe - more to pass around, check out her melons!"

Lucy paled to the sudden realization that Aquarius would not be pleased to be treated thusly. Natsu entered the playground and made a bee-line towards Lucy as the water bearer upended her jug and flooded the park with an angry torrent. The two bandits squealed in panic, thrashing as they were submerged. Natsu dove to Lucy and clutched her to his chest. The flood destroyed only some of the park, but caused more damage to the adjacent property.

"Never summon me drunk again." Aquarius glared at Lucy, "No wonder you can't get a boyfriend."

"Lucy! Are you okay? I'm so proud of you! That's one of the things I like about you, you stand up for yourself!" Natsu grinned, wider and wider. _**Hot damn! I did not destroy anything! **_ "I won! I won!"

"Arrrrrggggghhhh!"


	4. Chapter 4: Hot Spring Soak

Lucy was trembling and mumbling, "My jewels, my jewels..." as Natsu kept clutching her to his sculpted chest. His wide fang tipped grin was blinding. Home and business owners trickled out of flooded houses and stores. The two bandits were unconscious, resting not far away.

A tall man of average build wearing a fancy coat hurried out of the crowd starting to surround the two mages. "Excuse me, I'm the mayor of this town and I would like to thank you for saving our town." He extended his hand, "I would be proud to shake the hands of the mages responsible for capturing these miscreants."

Natsu reached over and shook the man's hand quickly. Lucy was still dazed and slowly extended her hand to the mayor. "J-j-j-ewels..." she hesitantly said.

Two constables rushed up to the mayor. "We've secured the bandits and we have a junior deputy taking damage reports. Will there be any further orders tonight?"

At the mention of the word 'damage', Lucy paled and shivered. Natsu dropped his grin and turned to face Lucy fully. "Hey, we can get paid tomorrow. You look like you really need that hot spring soak." He placed his hands on her shoulders and lightly squeezed. "I couldn't have done better myself!"

"That's not making me feel any better Natsu!" Lucy felt conflicted. _**Oh shit, my rent jewels...I freaking flooded the town...I lost the bet...Natsu looks damn good soaking wet...**_ "I knew I could stop those guys but they just had to run their mouths about melons and then Aquarius wrecked the joint! Did you mean you couldn't have captured the bandits better or destroyed the town better?" She started laughing quietly, then louder and out of control.

Natsu shot an apologetic look to the Mayor. "We'll be seeing you later tomorrow, sir. I need to take care of my partner right now." The Dragon slayer put his arm around the Celestial mage and guided her back to the hotel. During the walk, she saw the damage wasn't as bad as she feared. The flood had been pretty localized to the park location. Back in their room Lucy sat in an overstuffed chair and began giggling anew.

"Oi! You are such a weirdo! What's got you laughing again?" Natsu began grinning as Lucy's titter gained volume.

"Well, I was mad because the bandits interrupted our plans to come back here and enjoy ourselves - but we took care of them so fast we still have time to soak and relax. Let's celebrate! More drinks!" Lucy popped out of her chair and made her way to her luggage. Digging through the bag, she found the robe she wanted and a bottle of sake. "Hey, get us some glasses for this and I'll change into my yukata. A few toasts and then we soak."

"Um, okay Luce. Heat and booze don't really mix you know."

"You drink and you're hot all the time!" Lucy blushed after her brain caught up with her mouth. "You know what I mean." she muttered. Walking briskly she entered the bathroom and stripped out of her damp clothes, pulling on the fresh robe. Catching a glance of her appearance in the mirror she blanched. _**I look like a drowned cat! I need to do some damage repair.**_ That errant thought started the giggles again.

"Weirdo! Stop with the giggles. I have a drink ready for you." Natsu exchanged his clothes for a hotel robe and slippers while he waited for the blonde girl. _**I actually won our bet! Mmmm, tucked in, bedtime story and a kiss... **_His eyes brightened and a shit eating grin spread from ear to ear. "Oi! Hurry up! I have some celebrating to do!"

"Yah, yah - keep your panties on! I'll be out in a minute." After brushing her hair and fastening it into twin pigtails, Lucy decided she looked presentable. _**It's not like Natsu cares how I look anyway. But I care...**_ Leaving the door open as she exited the bathroom Lucy held her hand out for her drink and spoke. "So, let me make the first toast: to a successful mission! Bottoms up!"

Both mages downed their sake, with Lucy choking and gasping a little from the burn of the alcohol. Natsu poured them each another shot. "To Lucy's bed, long may we sleep together!"

Lucy froze with the shot half-way to her lips. "What the hell kind of toast is that?" _**Does he mean sleeping with the bed or sleeping with me? Why do I care?**_ She narrowed her eyes at Natsu as he downed another shot on his own. "Let's go before I have to hurt you." She drank her shot and stalked out of the room ahead of Natsu.

The gravelled path leading to the hot spring was bordered with night blooming jasmine spreading it's delicate scent. The hot water of the spring steamed in the night air. The moon made an appearance from behind the clouds drifting in the sky. "Ahhhh!" Lucy flung her arms open and spun around, taking in the view. "We have this all to ourselves Natsu! Once word spreads we caught the bad guys, this hotel will be overrun with tourists! Right now it is so perfect!" She smiled the soft smile Natsu liked best.

_**Oh Luce, you're perfect.**_ "Hey, we didn't grab any towels. Why don't you get in and I'll be right back with a couple?"

Lucy nodded, blushing softly. _**This will be kinda weird bathing together, but it's not a big deal to him so why should I care? I feel more relaxed already!**_ She looked around furtively, scanning for any other hotel guests. Seeing no-one about, Lucy dropped her robe in a heap and walked into the water. She let out a groan of pleasure as the hot water soothed her remnants of tension away.

Natsu was hurrying back with the towels and his acute hearing clearly caught the sounds Lucy was making as she splashed in the hot spring. _**Mmmm, I know she's naked - don't react, don't react! No, enjoy the thought a little more... Okay - time to be just her nakama again.**_ "Yo! Luce! Towels! Turn around and no peeking."

"Isn't this great Natsu? I mean how often does a person get a whole hot spring to themselves?" Lucy felt oddly shy and brave at the same time. _**We're here together, just sitting and having a conversation like adults.**_ "I wasn't going to peek anyway." _**I'd rather stare...Oh you hot, hot Dragon Boy... **_

"Is this warm enough for you Lucy? Did you want it hotter?" The dragon slayer ratcheted up his personal fire. "I remember before we were interrupted by those thugs, you wanted your soak to be hot." Natsu idly watched the clouds scudding across the sky. Errant breezes rang discretely hung wind-chimes. Subtly Natsu started edging closer to where Lucy was sitting.

"Oh thanks, this heat is just what my muscles needed." She yawned and stretched in place. "Natsu, do you think we'll get most of the mission jewels?"

"I don't see why not Luce! I'm not sure if that flood qualifies as a destructive rampage, but I'm sure I would've levelled a couple houses at least." Natsu grinned and edged closer again to the Celestial mage. "Why worry about it? You should think about writing me a bedtime story."

"Idiot!" Lucy giggled and took the sting out of the insult. "Out of all the things you could have asked for and you want to be tucked into bed with a story."

"Don't forget the goodnight kiss, Luce. You don't want word getting out you'd whelsh on a bet!" Natsu laughed softly. "You're the one who busted up the park! It was awesome!"

Sharply Lucy turned her head towards Natsu. Shyness had prevented her from making eye contact, but being teased about destroying the park emboldened her. "I was nowhere near your standard of destruction. You've got a lot more rubbing off on me to do before I get as good as you running amok!" The blonde snorted. "You make annihilation look effortless."

"Thanks Luce!" The pink haired Dragon slayer beamed with pride. _**I would LOVE to rub off on you - you're killing me here!**_ "There's an art to it ya know. I'm gonna go easy on you and give you time to write me a good story. You don't have to pay up until we get home to your place."

Lucy felt her blood pressure rising again. "What do you mean, 'go easy on me' and about not paying up until we're back in Magnolia? As I recall, the bet only entitles you to tucking in and a bedtime story in **my **bed. Not some hotel bed."

"Why is it you keep forgetting the kiss? Are you afraid you won't do it right?" Natsu's eyes gleamed wickedly. "And no complaining! Any night I need to snuggle in your bed, you have to let me! All because you couldn't restrain yourself!"

Fully incensed Lucy splashed Natsu in the face and stormed out of the bathing pool. She marched over to her discarded robe, snatched it up and covered herself. She then spied the towels with Natsu's robe and helped herself to both. Her face a deep beet-red she turned back to Natsu who was sitting shocked in the water. Putting her nose in the air, she spun around and headed back to their room.

_**Wow...just, wow. Lucy has one righteous butt. **_

Natsu sat alone in the hot spring for a good ten minutes allowing Lucy time to cool off. He got up and walked silently along thegravel path. His nakedness didn't bother him one whit. Drying off was the work of a second. The lights were off in the room, but the moonlight gave off enough illumination for Natsu to see a Lucy sized lump in the bed. Grinning, he entered and searched his bag for a pair of boxer shorts. Pulling them on he walked over to his side of the bed.

"What do you think you are doing?" Lucy's voice was icy cold.

Natsu could feel himself shrivelling. "Oh, Lucy! I was just teasing you! Can't you take a joke? I'm not upset you stole my robe and towel! That was kinda funny!"

Lucy felt remorse stir. "Fine! But you keep on your side of the bed!" She felt the bed dip as Natsu climbed in and settled down. "Good night baka."

"Sweet dreams Luce." _**Sweet dreams featuring that smokin' sweet butt!**_


	5. Chapter 5: Dream for Two

**Warning: Lime alert! **

Lucy tossed and turned in bed for a good ten minutes after Natsu joined her. _**Damn you Natsu... Why can't I relax? Time to count sheep I guess.**_ She let out a groan of frustration. Rolling onto her side, she watched Natsu's chest rise and fall evenly. Some imp of impropriety dared her to reach out to stroke the ripples of his abdomen lightly with just the tips of her fingers. An odd tingle raced through her body. Lucy was curious and removed her light touch. The sensation faded away. Wonderingly, she tried to repeat the impression. As soon as her skin made contact with his, the electric tingle returned and strengthened as she caressed his chest. _**Why don't I want to stop touching him? Natsu is put together very nicely - cut and defined muscles...Damnit Lucy! He's your nakama! He's not like other guys - he's naive!**_ Lulled by the strange feeling engendered by touching Natsu, Lucy kept stroking her hand over his chest. Long minutes later, her hand slowed and her eyes fluttered shut.

Natsu lay there on the cusp of dreaming. He felt a vague impression of a hand touching him but was unconcerned. The hand was pleasant and comforting to him. It was...nice and he was free-falling into darkness. A night sky lit with a thousand brilliant stars. A pulsing light show, a kaleidoscope of epic proportions. He could feel a biting wind whipping leaves and debris. A forest of winter trees surrounded a pond. No, he saw it was a hot spring like what he and Lucy had bathed in tonight. The water steamed and the soil surrounding the clearing was dusted with a thin layer of snow.

As it happens in dreams, Natsu suddenly felt aware that he wasn't alone. Looking left and then right, he spied a figure off in the distance. Close to him, the trees were in a dormant winter state. His dragon slayer senses brought the distant figure's scent to his nose. A hint of vanilla and spring flowers pressed on his awareness. He lifted his face to the dream night sky and witnessed several shooting stars. Natsu flared his nostrils, the evocative vanilla scent became stronger.

The thin dusting of snow on the ground thickened as the flower scent drew nearer. Soon Natsu's dream figure was standing in ankle deep snow. The hot spring was still steaming sending out a competing mineral smell. The winter dressed trees were burdened with a thick coating of ice, the errant wind sending small branches crashing down. The snow became deeper and deeper as the unknown figure drew closer. Natsu was filled with a sudden feeling of fear and uncertainty. He didn't understand why he could feel dread and excitement as the form drew nearer.

Among the sounds of wintry winds speeding through the naked trees, Natsu could hear clearly the chirping calls of birds. It was a confusing mix of spring and winter. The figure walked stealthily between the trees, picking a path most devoid of snow. Closer, the mystery person began emitting a glowing light. Natsu had to shield his eyes from the display.

The powerful radiance was painful to the dragon slayer and at the same time was a source of bliss. He stood still as the anonymous individual drew closer and closer. The rising scent of vanilla and spring flowers overthrew the winter scent of snow and dormancy. Dream self Natsu could feel a powerful pulse of lust sweep through his body. His fangs descended and he knew dragon scales had peppered his body. Flames erupted on his dream body and gained potency as the unknown form entered the clearing at the dream hot spring. The flames rising over his body grew in vigour exponentially as the vanilla scented person drew nearer.

He stood there, panting, sharp exhalations of breath misting the night air as the figure entered the clearing. The bright radiance flared and began to fade. His personal fire drew back and Natsu could begin to see a delicate form take shape. Bright blonde hair, curvy hips and seriously large melons. An ass that defied gravity and captured his gaze. In this dream world, Natsu was free to act - on impulses kept restrained in the waking world. He reached out and clasped the dream Lucy's hands. Desire became action and he brought her hands up to his face and kissed them, allowing his tongue to sweep across her palm. He let loose a heartfelt groan. Further impulse caused him to draw her body closer and wrap her in an embrace.

Vanilla was overpowering his nose, but Natsu inhaled even more to let spring flowers open his senses. "Ahhhh! Luce! You smell so incredible!" Natsu felt the dream snow creep higher up his legs. "I want to kiss you." Oddly, the cold snow seemed to melt just an infinitesimal amount. "I need to touch you." This statement startled dream Lucy. Her internal glow fluttered and Natsu became anxious. To reassure himself, he allowed his hands to descend to Lucy's derriere. Mindlessly, Natsu slowly squeezed and released and repeated. His palms were filled with soft, forgiving Lucy flesh.

The Lucy figure kept emitting an irregular pattern of luminosity. Natsu stepped up his erotic assault of dream Lucy. Slowly lowering and angling his head, he leaned in to kiss his best friend. Rough chapped lips descended on her soft mouth. Natsu's questing tongue slipped out and stroked her tongue. He felt Lucy's hands spring to life and capture his head, holding him prisoner as their tongues duelled - dancing into each others mouths. Panting loudly, he ground his body against her hips. Dream Lucy gasped and tried to pull away from Natsu's grasp.

"No," this implacable word stilled his nakama and empowered him. "I want. I need. I shall have." The snow melted to his ankles and made a brief resurgence as Lucy pulled back from his hold on her. "I want, I need..." Natsu repeated and the snow obligingly melted further. The winter trees of the clearing had shed their coating of ice and green buds began unfurling. The cold wind died down and a warmer breeze stirred into life.

Dream Lucy began panting. The touch of Natsu's hands on her ass was shocking and so good. He dragged his hands from her ass, up her hips and brought them to her heaving breasts. One heartbeat, two, three and he groped as he kept sucking face. He swallowed her moan of pleasure and bucked his hips against hers, again and again.

Birdsong trilled and the warm breeze grew warmer and stronger. There were only a few patches of snow left in the clearing. The scent of spring flowers was almost overwhelming for the dragon slayer. The night sky was full of dazzling stars. Every so often, a shooting star would skip across the sky.

"Luce! Luce! Ahhhh!" Natsu kept kissing Lucy. Drawing slow strokes of his tongue against hers he painted her mouth with his taste. Minutes passed and the trees surrounding them were wearing the leaves of summer. Thick and leafy, the trees stood still as Natsu pulled back briefly. He stared into Lucy's soft brown eyes and then slowly and gently reached out with the tip of his tongue to lick her neck. He made closer contact and began to suck at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Biting and licking, Natsu marked Lucy with a purple bruise.

"Damn!" Lucy shrieked. Abruptly she pushed Natsu back and the snow returned to the clearing. It somehow angered Natsu and he reapplied himself to marking her neck. He growled open mouthed against her neck. Using the tips of his fangs, he bit lightly and kept pressure over the previous bruise. Dream Lucy's hands burrowed underneath Natsu's vest and began raking furrows on his back with her nails.

"Oh...yes...Luce! Mark me! I will be yours!" He shut his eyes as the powerful surge of lust swept over his body. Opening his eyes, he saw the snow gone again and the trees green with summer foliage. Dream Lucy bit him on the neck. Pulses of pleasure chased over his body. His whole body throbbed in tune with shockwaves of bliss. Without thinking, he pulled her shirt up over her breasts. He attempted to suckle her nipple through her bra. Becoming dissatisfied from not making direct contact, he slipped it out of the bra and attached his lips to her stiff nipple. Worrying the bud, Natsu groaned and kept sucking.

The scent of vanilla and spring flowers that was so arousing to Natsu ratcheted up another notch as undercurrents of a smoky and spicy nature were added to the mix. "What do you want me to do Lucy?" Natsu gasped. "Tell me what to do."

"Give me pleasure Natsu!" the blonde Celestial mage pled. She swept her hands down his back and spent long minutes squeezing the tight globes of his ass. "I want more!" she hissed. "I need more." Lucy panted loudly and began unbuckling his pants. She ground her hips against his in a frantic manner. She pressed harder and pushed against him.

Stepping back from Lucy's assault, Natsu felt conflicted. He was adoring the physical sensations of Lucy attacking him but still felt guilty to be desiring his nakama in such a manner. The blonde pressed against Natsu again and he stumbled backwards. One pace, two and three - he fell into the hot spring still clutching Lucy.

Lucy giggled and splashed about. Natsu just sat amazed in the waist-high water. He had expected her to shriek at the very least and attempt to separate his head from his shoulders at the most. Bemused he removed his soaked vest and tossed it aside. That action drew Lucy's attention back to him. With a coy smile she shrugged out of her wet shirt and took off her bra. Natsu's breath caught in his chest as he ogled her chest. Lucy smiled and pushed herself closer to the pink haired mage.

"Lucy! My Luce!" Natsu crooned. "Kiss me." It came out as a demand she was only too happy to obey. She flicked his lips with her tongue and then sucked on his whole tongue. She crawled into his lap and draped herself against him, keeping contact with his lips the whole time. Natsu leaned back in the water, finding support at the edge of the hot spring. He devoted long minutes to running his callused hands over dream Lucy's back, swooping random circles over her shoulders and stroking each indent of her spine. They kissed with growing desperation, moans growing softer and louder as they pressed slippery wet flesh together.

Natsu opened his eyes in shock as his partner bit his cheek - lightly, but still a definite press of teeth. He smiled and angled his head. "Mark me on my neck." Natsu was lost in a lustful daze. His eyes almost totally unfocused roamed the clearing. The trees were clad in full summer foliage. Birdsong and animal sounds were abundant. The dream sky was filled with a swollen moon, radiating silvery light competing with the twinkling stars. The dragon slayer gasped as Lucy dragged her tongue over the raised tendons in his neck and pinched them with her teeth. She added a provocative wiggle against his groin and shrieked as Natsu stood up and swept her into his arms.

Each step out and away from the water brought a stronger sense of summer to the forest. Walking without a plan, he randomly picked a direction and began moving. Natsu clutched his best friend to his chest, supporting her legs from underneath with one arm and allowing her to circle his neck with her arms. The moon's silvery light strengthened and soon a path became obvious. A short distance away, a small cabin was situated in another tiny clearing. Starlight and moonlight shone down on the dwelling, almost pulsing with strange intensity.

Lucy blushed and ducked her head against Natsu's broad chest. "I can walk you know. I must be heavy."

"We're almost there - why wouldn't I want to have you in my arms?" Natsu sniffed and ascertained the building was empty. A few swift strides and he carried Lucy across the threshold. "Now, where were we?" He allowed his arms to slowly release his partner and she slid down his body. She regained her footing, smiling up at Natsu, showing him the soft smile he loved best.

"I think you were about to remove your pants - slowly." Lucy gave a breathy giggle. "Don't be shy, hot dragon boy. This is something I have wanted to watch for the longest time."

Natsu complied, finishing unbuckling his pants and dropping them down inch by inch. He grinned and half turned as his boxer clad butt was exposed by his drooping pants. Finally he stepped out of his clothing and reached for Lucy. She stepped forward into his embrace and stroked the raised welts she was responsible for earlier.

"Ahhh! Luce! Mark me some more!" Natsu was consumed with how good Lucy felt trapped in his arms. How soft her breasts and buttocks were compared to how tight and hard her nipples felt brushed against his chest. It took a strong effort, but he managed to open his eyes to witness the blissful expression on dream Lucy's face. Her nails clenched and left additional crescent marks in his back.

For untold minutes they were locked together in an embrace doing nothing more than holding each other. Their shelter boasted a fireplace, a couch flanking it and a very large, pillow covered bed. They locked eyes and slowly made their way over to the bed. Lucy pressed Natsu down on his back and clambered on top. She blushed as Natsu laid there expectantly, his elbows sticking out as his hands cupped the back of his head in support. "I want you. I need you." His voice dropped to a growl, "Kiss me."


	6. Chapter 6: Good Morning!

The walls of the cabin shuddered. A loud knocking repeated a staccato beat. The bed began to shake simultaneously with the quaking walls. The rat-a-tat-tat of the mystery noise rang out louder and louder. The dream cabin started to fade away. The walls vanished first, followed by the ceiling, then the floor and furnishings. The bed was the very last thing to dissipate. Natsu and Lucy then faded into mist and shadows.

"Good morning! You have a message from the Mayor!" the rapping of the messenger's knuckles was incessant. "Hello!"

Natsu's eyes popped open and he jumped out of bed, hoping to let Lucy sleep longer. _**After the way I teased her last night, I don't want to give her any reason to Lucy kick me.**_ He darted to the door and opened it a crack. "Yes?" Natsu eyed the courier. "I thought I told the mayor last night we'd be over in the afternoon to deal with our payment."

"I'm just the messenger, sir." The liveried young man handed an envelope to Natsu. He attempted to crane his neck to see the other occupant of the room. He gave up when the dragon slayer glared at him. "Good day sir."

Natsu blocked the other person's view and held the missive in one hand as he closed the door with the other. _**No one is peeping on my Luce except ME!**_ He scratched a random itch on his thigh and made his way back to the bed. Dropping the letter on a bedside table, he gingerly slipped into bed. _**Ah, this is more like it...**_ The pink haired dragon slayer rolled onto his side to watch his partner sleep peacefully lying on her back. Her hair was spread over her pillow like a halo and even though it smelled of the mineral water from last night, it enticed Natsu into drawing closer and inhaling a hit.

The thin tank top she wore did not hide any of her physical beauty. Natsu dragged the bed sheet up to hide the temptation of her breasts. He grinned as he recalled some of his last night's dream. _**I must have wires crossed in my head! Wicked hot dream last night - I did whatever I wanted in my dream, and when I have my dream girl in bed...I get the urge to protect her from me.**_

Lucy sighed and rolled toward the pinkette. She lodged against his side, one leg sliding over his and her arm sprawling overtop as well. "Mmmm, hot dragon boy..." she mumbled. Closing his eyes, Natsu grinned and enjoyed the feel of her body pressing against him. Lucy snuggled closer and her searching hand ran over Natsu's hip bone.

His boxers tented. _**Shit! Don't wake up yet Lucy!**_ Cracking open one eye slightly, he checked to see if she was aware of his morning wood. Her face remained serene and her breathing was deep and even. Natsu lay there, aroused and yet comically terrified. _**Maybe if she wakes up now, I can just blame it on my dream - yeah, that'll go over well. 'So, Luce, I was just dreaming about you and me having sex...so it's your fault I'm like this...I demand an apology!' Yup - I'm gettin' a Lucy kick to the head.**_ For what felt like an eternity, Natsu lay stiff in bed, hyper aware of his nakama pressed up against his eager flesh.

Warmth, that was the first thing Lucy was aware of as she gradually woke up. She was snuggled with Natsu, entangled with his limbs. Slowly she realized her right hand was clutching the bare skin of his hip and her leg was thrown over one of his. _**Why is it I molest him in my sleep? Bad Lucy!**_ Without making the conscious decision, she flexed her hand and caressed his hip. She allowed her fingertips to glide back and forth over the small patch of skin, then drew her hand up his rib cage.

"Umm, Luce? You awake?"

"Wha-?" Lucy stilled her hand which had been heading to grope his pectoral muscle. _**Shit!**_ "Wassup?" She yawned and stretched, bringing her naughty hand away from temptation. Blinking rapidly, Lucy made a show of appearing more asleep than she had been. _**Can't a girl grope her hot dragon boy when she needs to?**_ "Man, I had the most vivid dream last night."

"We received a letter from the mayor this morning. I didn't open it yet, you wanna see it?" Natsu hoped to distract Lucy from noticing exactly how much his body liked her body. "I told him last night we'd swing by in the afternoon to pick up our jewels."

At these words, Lucy pulled away and sat upright. "Crap! He's gonna withhold jewels for damages! Kya! My rent!" She turned to look at Natsu. Her large brown eyes tremulous in her pale face.

"Hey, don't borrow trouble Luce." Natsu grinned, "There's more missions we could do."

"Well, hand it over then!" Lucy frowned. "Let's get the bad news over with." Imperiously, she held out her hand for the letter. Natsu reached over to the nightstand, picked it up and gave it to her. She ripped it open and read it quickly. "Arrgghh! My jewels! Why can't anything ever go right?"

Natsu patted Lucy on the back. "Oi! What's going on? Don't be so upset, we can fix anything if we're together." He leaned closer and hugged her. "Stressing out leads to writer's block. How're you going to pay up the bet if you don't calm down?"

"Baka! Is that all you can think about right now!? The mayor is giving us a choice of taking half of the payment or repairing the park and surrounding buildings. There's water damage and a lot of flower beds were washed away."

"Doesn't sound too bad." The pinkette squeezed Lucy tighter. "I can boil away any standing water, dry wood so it doesn't mould, and you have Virgo - she's awesome with digging. We'll get things fixed in no time!"

Lucy's mouth dropped open then snapped shut with a click, "Natsu, I must have suffered brain damage last night. You are absolutely right. We can do this! And get all the jewels!" Her eyes brightened and a wide grin spread across her face. Spontaneously she returned his hug and let out a sigh of relief. "Let's get ready - I call the shower first!"

"Fine with me, Luce." Natsu was pleased with how he had turned Lucy's mood around. _**I know how to share - we could save water together... **_He watched as Lucy bounded out of the bed and rushed over to her luggage and pulled out a fresh set of clothes. _**Nice choice of undies, Luce - Huh, I don't remember giving that pair back to you. **_"Don't take too long, I'm hungry." He smirked as she made a face at him and stuck her tongue out.

Lucy closed the door to the bathroom only slightly harder than was needed. Putting down her pile of clothes, she turned on the taps to the shower - adjusting the spray and temperature. Quickly she stripped out of her tank top and sleep shorts. Briefly she checked herself out in the mirror. _**Hair - needs conditioner, eyes - open enough for now, neck - big purple bruise.**_ She pivoted toward the shower and then back to the mirror looking perplexed at the mark on her neck. _**When the hell did I do this?**_ Deciding to not worry further on this minor mystery, Lucy applied herself to her shower.

Natsu banged on the bathroom door, "Hurry it up! You're gonna prune if you take any longer!" He then strode to his bag and searched for another set of clothes.

"I'm almost dressed! Gimme a second!" In the safe haven of the bathroom, Lucy applied another layer of make-up on her mystery bruise. Looking in the mirror, she gave final approval to her image. _**Hair - pig tails - cute, eyes - open all the way, neck - mark concealed. Outfit - shirt - tight, skirt - short. I'll have the mayor agreeing to give us extra jewels with my sex appeal!**_ "Okay!" Lucy swiftly opened the door and stood still in shock as she saw several angry red welts on his back. "When did you hurt yourself last night?"

"What are you babbling about, weirdo? You talking about those pansy ass punches from the bandit leader? Those were nothing! I'm fine." Natsu grinned, entered the bathroom and shut the door. Five minutes was all he needed to clean up and dress. "Ready! Let's head out and grab breakfast!" Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her out of the room. His stomach rumbled loudly. "Food then business." He grinned widely, making eye contact with his best friend.

Lucy smiled back, "You're right, we can fix anything if we're together. Did one of the bandits punch you in the neck? You've got a bit of a bruise right here on your neck." She reached out and pressed on the exact spot.

"Ouch! Didja have to press so hard?" The dragon slayer winced and drew back. "You're so mean! I knew you'd hold a grudge against me for winning the bet. Be honest, this is nothing but payback for me winning."

"Baka! You've got a bruise and I was just concerned - why do I bother, you're so thick-headed!"

Still light-heartedly squabbling; they exited the hotel, casually holding hands, arguing over where to have breakfast.


	7. Chapter 7: The Deal with the Mayor

After a big meal in a busy cafe, Natsu and Lucy strolled downtown Balsam. The streets were thronged with tourists. "Oi! Luce - where did you say the mayor's office was?" Natsu glanced over at his partner. "It's so crowded suddenly, you should hold my hand or something. I don't want to have to waste time looking for you."

"As if! You're more likely to wander off than me. Anyway, his letterhead said that city hall was on First Street. We're on Fourth right now, so we're going in the right direction." Lucy didn't bother shaking off Natsu's clutching hand. _**I don't know why he's so clingy right now, but it's kinda nice.**_

Together, they walked the picturesque town. Natsu gripped Lucy's hand a bit firmer as he noticed men of all ages scoping out his partner. She was oblivious to the extra attention, but the dragon slayer was displeased as stranger after stranger ogled Lucy's long, sexy legs or busty chest and firm ass. His pace picked up and he was soon almost dragging Lucy along. _**Mine.**_

"Hey! Don't rip my arm off! I can't window shop if we're running!" Lucy whined. "Why is the town so full of people anyway? We only caught the bandits last night. How did word get out so fast?" She pulled Natsu into a clothing shop. "I need a few things. I swear I had more pan-t - ..." Blushing, Lucy broke off the word she was uttering. _**Panties...always seem to disappear at the weirdest times.**_ "You don't have to come in here with me. I'll just be a few minutes."

Affecting an innocent tone, Natsu shook his head. "No. I can help you. The sooner we see the mayor, the sooner we start repairs and get back to Magnolia. I'm so excited to collect on our bet." He grinned as his partner glared daggers at him. "What do you need in here anyway, Luce?"

The Celestial mage blushed and muttered, "Underwear." She started rooting through piles of undergarments, searching for her favoured style.

One of the salesgirls stepped forward and offered assistance. "Is there anything I can help you find? What kind of panties does your boyfriend like?"

Lucy's head shot up from her browsing. "No! It's not like that! We're just best friends! We belong to the same guild and we're nakama."

"Hey, Luce! How about these?" Natsu held up a red boy-cut pair of lacy panties. "Or do you want bikinis?" He held up his other offering. "Personally, I like the red ones. I wanna get going." _**Why do I tease her like this? I have issues...but her blush is so cute!**_

Blushing, Lucy marched over to Natsu and snatched both pairs of underwear from his hands. "Stop playing with these!" Mortified, she bought both pairs from the openly amused salesgirl.

"Thank you for your custom!"

Lucy and Natsu exited the shop, this time with the dragon slayer being dragged behind the still furiously blushing blonde mage. "I swear, I cannot take you anywhere!"

"But Luce! I was just helping! You take forever to decide!"

The shop girl giggled to the other shop assistant, "Did you see the matching hickeys they were wearing? I know where they stayed last night!"

"Yup! The 'Love Hot-Spring Hotel' strikes again!"

"Their babies will be so cute!"

"You gotta lay off on bleaching your hair so much - it's rotting your brain. You're not only acting like your matchmaking cousin, but you're looking like her too!"

City hall was an imposing building with a wooden double door, flanked by columns, several arched windows and a brightly striped awning. It was a seething hive of activity. Bureaucrats were scurrying here and there, shouting and countermanding orders.

Fluttering her eye lashes at a likely youngish man, Lucy smiled. "Excuse me, but can you direct us to the mayor's office?"

"Yes, down this hallway, his office is at the very end."

"Thanks!" Lucy hooked her arm through her partner's arm. "I have a good feeling about this!" She knocked on the heavily polished door.

"Enter!" The mayor called out. "What can I do for you?" The two mages crossed the threshold of his office. "Oh - it's my favourite bandit catching magic-users! You have come to discuss my offer, have you not?" He sat back in his fancy chair, smiling in welcome. "You are welcome to half of the reward. I'm afraid what with the damages incurred, you understand I have no choice but keep some jewels in reserve to pay for said damages." His grin became shark-like. "If you would assist with repairs, we would of course be happy to pay out the full amount. The park isn't in too bad a shape, but three of the five buildings that flooded require substantial work."

The blonde exchanged a dazed look with the pinkette. They stood there silently.

Unabashed, the mayor spoke further. "As you can see, this place is jumping! We're having a festival next week. We could pay you a bonus of sorts for completing the repair work."

Lucy perked up at the word 'bonus'. _**I knew my sex appeal would work on the mayor!**_ "Sounds promising, Mr. Mayor." She smiled sweetly and Natsu growled in displeasure, albeit softly.

_**Why is she smiling at him with her smile for me?**_ Natsu swaggered forward and edged in front of Lucy. "How much of a bonus?" He crossed his arms and looked sourly at the mayor.

The mayor of Balsam looked at Natsu's glowering face and then Lucy's guileless countenance. He put his politician's smile on, "As it happens, my cousin owns the hotel you're staying in. He has agreed to house you for the two days expected for the repairs to take."

"Add all meals and you've got a deal Mr. Mayor." Lucy grinned. _**He doesn't know it, but Natsu will eat him out of house and home!**_ "We can start right away!"

Natsu turned to Lucy, "Sounds okay, I guess I can wait a few more days for you to make good on our bet."

"Are you going to nag me the whole time we're fixing the damage?" Lucy stood with her hands on her hips. "I will start writing tonight. Will that satisfy you?"

Natsu smirked, "Don't forget to put in lots of fighting and dragons." _**You don't want to know what will really satisfy me...but I would love to show you.**_

Still smiling, the mayor shook the hand of each mage. "It's agreed! Two nights stay at the Love Hot-Spring Hotel and meals in return for repairs to the park and five flood damaged buildings. Please wait in the hallway and I will assign a liaison to assist you momentarily."


	8. Chapter 8: Dreams are Just Dreams?

Natsu grinned at Lucy, "Good work tricking him into paying for our meals. You sure know how to pack it away. He's gonna be so surprised when he sees how much you eat."

"Me? How about you? You're the animal when it comes to food!" Lucy glared and resumed her tirade. "You order one of everything, all the time! You eat, and eat, and never gain an ounce!" She poked his rock hard stomach. "It's ridiculous! You had a huge breakfast and just feel that!" _**No jiggle - hot, hard six-pack...what was my point?**_ Lucy realized she was basically groping Natsu's stomach.

"Yeah, and look at you!" Natsu reached over and pressed his callused hand over her bare midriff. "Kinda squishy but not too soft. Didja know it makes a great pillow?"

Lucy smacked his hand away, but not before the feel of his hand against her flesh made her skin tingle. "What do you mean - I make a great pillow? Isn't it enough you sleep in my bed, but do you have to use me to sleep on?"

"Excuse me, Miss Lucy and Mr. Natsu. I've been assigned to support you regarding the repairs of the park and surrounding area. My name is Caleb and if you'll follow me, we can start work." The political aide was tall and thin, dressed in a dark suit. He looked to be thirty years of age and had a kind face. "Are you enjoying our town? Our Love hot-spring is pretty famous. You're lucky to have a room there. The festival will bring tourists from all corners of Fiore."

As the petty bureaucrat chatted, he led the mages out of City Hall and directly to the ravaged park. "As you can see, there is some soil seepage which wrecked the flower beds, but it looks worse than it is. The nearby buildings are a different story. They look okay, but we need to stop mould from growing."

Lucy nodded as Caleb droned on and on. "Well -" she interjected as he slowed his outpouring of verbiage. "I will get started on the park and my associate can work on drying water damage." The Celestial mage selected Virgo's key and summoned her.

"Would princess like to punish me?"

"No! There's no punishing! We're going to fix up this park! Can you re-dig all of these flower beds, please?" Lucy watched Natsu walk away with Caleb. "I'd like to finish this as soon as possible, so I can watch Natsu - I mean keep an eye on him." Virgo and Lucy worked together all morning, only stopping for frequent water breaks.

Shortly after the noon hour, Caleb brought a small hamper over to where the spirit and spirit mage were toiling. "As the day has heated up so much, please use the park facilities to freshen up and I will set out the meal provided. Your associate Natsu will be joining you momentarily. If you don't mind me saying, he's a very interesting fellow."

Lucy guffawed, "You've got that right! I'd say he's one of a kind! He's my best friend though - and a good partner."

Natsu was sitting down in front of the hamper when Lucy returned from washing the sweat and soil off. He held a plate piled high with assorted meat and was rapidly chewing a chicken leg. "Where's Virgo? I saved some for her...and you." The dragon slayer tore off another hunk of flesh from the chicken. "Mpphff!"

"Virgo is resting back in the Spirit World. Honestly, what have I told you about talking with a mouth full of meat?"

Natsu's eyes widened as he choked on a bit of food. For a second, Lucy thought Natsu would recover, but he gasped and his face turned red. Lucy slapped his back and he spat out the offending nugget of flesh. "Gah! Shit! That hurt my back!"

"Are you okay?" Lucy wrestled the plate of food out of Natsu's grasp and set it down on the hamper. "How's your throat?"

"Never mind my throat, my back is on fire! Why did you have to hit me so hard?" Natsu whined. "It really hurts!"

"You're such a baby! Take off your vest and let me see!" _**And do me a solid and keep it off...**_ He dropped the vest and turned around to show her his naked broad shoulders and trim waist and... "Oh my god! You've got claw marks on your back! How did you do that drying up water from those buildings?"

"Huh? How the hell would I know? It didn't hurt until you tried to smash my ribcage from the backside!" Natsu craned his neck and tried to see the damage for himself. He turned around and twisted in vain, unable to see further than his shoulder.

"Sit!" Lucy commanded. "Let me have a closer look." She carefully touched the scratches and raised welts, tracing the path of carnage. "When we're done with eating, I'll summon Virgo again and have her get some supplies to bandage you." Lucy was confused. The marks totally looked like passionate scratches from a woman, but on Natsu? How could he have met, hooked up and messed around with somebody when he and she had never spent more than ten minutes apart...except for this morning.

Lucy fixed herself some food and started eating. _**If I don't figure this out, it will drive me insane. Maybe he fell while he was working - it couldn't have been from fighting the bandits, that was over pretty fast - besides I would've seen that when we used the hot-spring last night.**_

Natsu resumed inhaling his plate of meat and meat products. He ate steadily until only bones were left. He rummaged in the hamper and pulled out a container of cookies. "Want one, Luce? It's got purple frosting, exactly the colour of the bruise on your neck! Only a weirdo like you would match a cookie!" He shoved a whole cookie in his mouth. "Mmmm! Delicious!"

Shocked, Lucy made to clasp and cover the bruise on her neck. _**Shit! Must've sweated and then washed off the concealing makeup before lunch.**_ Giving a shaky laugh, Lucy dropped her hand back to her lap. "Looks like mystery marks are going around! You have those marks on your back and one on your neck and I've got one on my neck too! Pretty weird, huh?"

"You've always been weird." Natsu proclaimed. "What were you doing to mark up your neck like that?" _**Only one thing I can think of and when did you have time to meet someone and make out? My Luce isn't that kind of girl.**_

"I didn't do anything Natsu! It was there when I got up this morning! All I did was get out of bed with you and shower and...What did you do to me last night!?" Lucy suddenly stood up and walked away from their picnic site. "I remember a really vivid, intense dream. Was it a dream or you?"

"Whaddaya mean, what did I do to you? If anything, you assaulted me! Look at my back! I had a hot dream too. Very vivid. But dreams are dreams, they're not real." Natsu frowned, "It's not possible what you're thinking."

"I don't know what I'm thinking!" Lucy was flustered, "All I know is we both have unexplained marks and really exciting dreams last night. What did you dream of?"

The pinkette blushed and looked down at his feet. "I'd rather not get a Lucy-kick to the head. You tell me your dream."

Lucy paled then brilliantly flushed. "Um, I was in a forest... there was a hot-spring and, this is weird, some snow...then some stuff happened and the snow was gone...that's about it."

Natsu breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh mine was kinda the same. A forest, a hot-spring I fell into, snow, some stuff happened and then the snow was gone." _**No real details, she'll never figure it out, my sex dream with her is safe.**_ "It was awesome though, one of the best dreams I've ever had. I rank it in the top ten, no make that in the top five!" He smiled, "There was a cabin in my dream too, and lots of moonlight." Natsu was proud of himself giving what he figured was just enough information to placate Lucy and not so much that it would necessitate notifying his next-of-kin to identify his corpse.

"Oh, okay. Let me think about this some." The blonde picked up Natsu's abandoned vest, and held it out to him. "Please put this on so I can use my brain. You're way too distracting when you're half naked." He smirked and donned the article of clothing. "Natsu, I think better when I'm busy working. So I think we should get right back to fixing the park and buildings. If you pack up the hamper, I'll call Virgo and get you some salve for your back. I need to use the facilities, so I'll see you in a couple of minutes." Barely looking at her partner, Lucy dashed away to cogitate in private.

Closer to ten minutes later, Lucy went back to where she had left Natsu to find the hamper packed up and abandoned. "Virgo, go and find Natsu and help him with the salve, please." In the pit of her stomach Lucy felt a strange feeling. A bit queasy, anxious and disbelieving. Her thoughts rushed around and round. _**He copied what I said happened in my dream, that proves nothing, but he added the cabin and moonlight and falling into the hot-spring. I can't say it, can barely think it - we have matching hickeys from our dream. We dreamt together, a SEX DREAM! Oh my god, ohmygod! **_

Swept up in her thoughts, Lucy was startled into motion when Caleb walked up to claim the hamper. She gave a small jump and giggled. "Sorry, lost in thought a bit. Um, do you remember when you said there was going to be a festival next week? You mentioned a Love hot-spring? Can you tell me a little more about that?"

Caleb smiled and set the hamper back down. "Well, folks in town have a few famous unlikely couples who matched up at the hot-spring. I myself met my wife after bathing in the hot-spring. It was a magical evening under dream stars and moonlight. We both have slight low-level magic, so the Love spring pretty much just brought the each of us to the other's attention."

Lucy nodded, "And what happens when a person has more magical ability?"

The political aide scratched his head. "I'm not really sure. I've heard that true love can enter their one true love's dreams. I've heard that massive magical energy can make dreams come true. No offence, but that makes it sound like a fairy tale. I think the truth lays somewhere in the middle."

"Thanks for indulging my curiosity. I'm sure to finish the rest of the work needed in the park this afternoon. Tomorrow I'll be able to assist Natsu with the water damaged buildings." Lucy waved goodbye to Caleb.

Caleb picked up the cooler and whistled a cheery tune as he walked off. He had noticed the matching hickeys and witnessed the welts on Natsu's back. He chuckled as he returned to City Hall, "Those kids! From the power they seem to have, one dip in the spring has been enough to open their eyes to one another. Twice will be unimaginable!"

Virgo popped back to Lucy. "Does princess wish to punish me like she punished Natsu?"

Lucy shrieked, "I did NOT punish Natsu! There will be no punishing of anyone at anytime!"

"Yes princess. As you wish."

Lucy apologized, "Sorry Virgo, I have a lot on my mind. We just need to finish fixing the flower beds and planting new flowers. I really appreciate your help. Let's get to it!" They worked steadily the rest of the afternoon.

The park was in pristine condition by the time a bare-chested Natsu strolled over to escort Lucy back to the hotel. He had his vest trapped in a belt loop and his scarf tied around his waist. "Did you miss me Lucy?"


	9. Chapter 9: Appreciation

"Did you miss me Lucy?" Natsu repeated when all he received in response was a weird grin from his partner. "Man, I sure sweated up a storm. I guess it was good practice for keeping myself in check though. It's kinda easier to go all out than restrain my power." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small container, handing it over to Lucy. "Virgo gave me some salve for your bruise. It works great! Check out my back!" Natsu turned and showed off his now welt less back.

"That's great Natsu, why didn't you use it on your neck bruise?"

"I guess I forgot. No big deal, slop some on me." He smiled and angled his head. _**Touch me, I know you want to. **_

Hesitantly, Lucy dipped a finger in the pleasant smelling goo and spread it over the juncture of Natsu's neck and shoulder. "You're lucky to have me as a partner. You could have easily done this yourself Natsu!"

"Aw, Luce! I said I forgot!" He pouted and snagged some of the ointment. "You hold still and I'll apply some for you. Fair is fair!" Natsu lightly touched her neck and Lucy flinched and gave a shivery gasp. "Ticklish are you?"

The blonde gave an embarrassed giggle. "Um, more like super sensitive." _**It feels damn good.**_ "So I bet you're pretty hungry, huh? I'm feeling good that we fixed up the park all in one day." Lucy gave another gasp as Natsu rubbed the cream onto her bruise. He stood so close, she could feel his body heat soothing her work-sore muscles. Lucy watched Natsu from lowered eyes as he kept circling his fingertips on her neck. His touch elicited delicious sparks of awareness. Ever so slowly, his hand slid across her collarbone and came to rest just shy of her tank top strap.

Slowly their gazes met. Natsu flushed and started to pull away. Lucy trapped his hand and leaned in closer. Her heart was thudding a nervous beat. She licked suddenly dry lips and slowly started to close the gap between their bent heads. Tortuous inch by inch, her eyes dared him to back away and beckoned him to join together. His dark eyes shined with a barely constrained excitement as he lowered his head another small amount.

Three children ran past the mage partners, laughing in sudden joy, shattering the moment. Natsu and Lucy sprang apart and spun away from each other. Each filled with unfulfilled longing and desperate for closer communion.

"So, Natsu..." Lucy was the first to speak. "Time to hit the showers, eh?" She flushed in mortification as her imagination took that prompt and mentally stripped Natsu. She ducked her head and tried again, "Let's go back to the hotel and get cleaned up for dinner."

"Ah, okay." Natsu felt jumpy under his skin. Under most circumstances, he was happiest pretending a greater naiveté than reality. He'd discovered very early in life bigger allowances would be made for him if he acted innocent. Soon, the act was entrenched and immensely difficult to throw off. Right now, he wished he could step up to the Celestial mage and show her what she meant to him. "Yah, I could do with a shower and some chow."

The walk back to the hotel was brisk and quiet with each mage examining internally their feelings for the other.

Their entrance into the hotel was vastly different from the evening before. Instead of an empty foyer and reception area, the hotel was alive with tourists and employees rushing about. The manager forced a smile as he recognized Lucy and Natsu. They pushed through the crowd and made it to the privacy of their room.

"I'm feeling some inspiration Natsu, so you grab a shower first. I want to jot down some plot for a story." Lucy went over to her luggage and ferreted out some paper and some pens. She mustered up her courage and turned to him with a wide grin, "Dragons, right?"

"Yes, lots of dragons and plenty of action." _**Let me show you what kind of action Lucy.**_ Natsu started digging through his bag looking for fresh clothes then thought the better of that and shrugged, taking his whole bag into the bathroom with him. He started the water running and shed his pants and boxer shorts. He entered the shower and vigorously shampooed his hair and soaped his body, eager to be ready to eat.

Lucy half-heartedly scribbled some notes down on paper. Her mind more taken with the events not much later than half an hour ago. _**I was going to kiss him. He was going to kiss me. We were going to kiss each other. What is going on? I know I care about him, but how does he feel about me?**_ She doodled on the page, drawing hearts and flowers.

"I'm done, Luce!" Natsu walked out of the bathroom smiling like he didn't have a care in the world. He was sporting a whole new outfit Lucy hadn't seen before; a black dress shirt half-way buttoned up and under that was a black, muscle out-lining t-shirt. Black jeans and his ever-present white scarf finished his look. Currently, both the t-shirt and dress shirt were tucked into his pants. "Look, Luce. Which is better? Both tucked in, or just the t-shirt?" He pulled out the tails of the dress shirt. "Well?"

"You look good Natsu." _**Now show me naked so I can compare.**_ "I think I prefer the dress shirt tucked in, though." _**Mostly because then it doesn't cover up your sweet butt.**_ Lucy set down her rough story notes and gathered up fresh clothes for after her shower. "I'll hurry and wash up." She spoke this over her shoulder and saw that he was busy tucking in the dress shirt. _**Yeah, I like that you are an obedient dragon boy.**_

As soon as Natsu heard Lucy running the shower, he headed over to where she had left her rough story notes. _**Let's just see what she thinks I want in a bedtime story.**_ He flipped over the loose papers and the first thing that struck him were the doodles in the margins. _**Hearts? Flowers? Not too much written down for story ideas, but I was in and out of that shower super fast.**_ The dragon slayer turned the pages back over, bemused with his discovery. Natsu shrugged and laid down on the bed, crossing his ankles and leaving his arms spread wide. He closed his eyes as he waited, listening to the sounds of Lucy splashing in the shower. _**I wonder how hard she'd kick me if I came in there and offered to help? It's getting harder and harder to not make a move on her. If those kids hadn't made such a commotion in the park, I don't think we'd showering separately.**_ Laying alone in the bed, Natsu blushed.

"Get it in gear Luce! My dragon stomach is eating itself!" Natsu shouted from his prone position. "I thought you said you were gonna hurry!"

Lucy stomped out of the bathroom, "I'm ready. I don't think I took more than fifteen minutes. You're not going to find any woman faster than that taking a shower."

"What do I care about some random woman showering, Luce? I only have to wait for you." He pushed up into a sitting position on the bed. "Weirdo." Natsu watched Lucy dig for her shoes and put them on. He very much liked her skin tight dress. _**Oi! I think you wore the red boy-cut panties. Bless you Lucy.**_ He bounced off the bed and offered Lucy his arm. "Shall we?"

"Let's!" Lucy allowed Natsu to escort her to the hotel dining room. At the hostess station, they waited in line behind one other couple. The male half of the couple was tall and thin with dark hair. He wore a plain suit and his companion was slightly shorter and very curvy. Her hair was a deep blue and her voice low and musical.

Natsu smiled at Lucy and tapped the gentleman on the shoulder. "Hey! Funny running into you here!"

"What are you doing, pestering a stranger Natsu?" Lucy frowned at her partner. The tall man turned around and she realized it was Caleb. "Oh! Of course dragon boy never forgets a scent." She blushed and awkwardly smiled. "This must be your wife! Pleased to meet you! Your husband has been a lot of help to us."

"I'm Ayame. Pleased to meet you Miss Lucy, and your partner too of course - Mr. Natsu." Ayame smiled at each of them and then turned to her husband to whisper something in his ear. Facing the mage couple, she smiled wider, "We're here for our anniversary. Eight years married."

Lucy's eyes shined, "Oh congratulations! That's wonderful!"

"Yes, congrats on eight years of marriage." Natsu's wide grin grew sly. "I think you're right Ayame." The hostess arrived to whisk the older couple away, seating them in a private corner on the other side of the room.

"What did she say Natsu?" Lucy questioned. "Tell me!" She reached out a hand and lightly touched Natsu's cheek. Her voice dropped seductively. "Tell me, what did Caleb's wife say?"

"Um...I can't tell you right now. Maybe later." Natsu's sly grin faded. "So, um... How about another hot-spring soak tonight? We did work pretty hard today, you know, fixing up all that damage you caused when we caught those bandits." _**Yes! This will make her abandon what Ayame whispered to Caleb.**_ "I asked Caleb about the spring while we fixed those buildings and there are several private soaking areas in addition to the main pool we used yesterday."

"Sounds nice, Natsu." Lucy wore a quizzical look. _**So, he wants to spend private alone time with me? Does he know something more about this Love hot-spring than what he's telling me? **_"The hotel has really filled up since yesterday. I bet you have to reserve a private soaking area."

Natsu puffed out his chest and preened. "Already thought of that and booked it." The hostess beckoned them forward and led them to a table for two in a secluded corner of the dining room. She handed them menus after they sat down, retreating to her station. The pink haired dragon slayer wore an unusually earnest look on his boyish face. "I just wanna say thank you for being my partner."

Lucy was surprised. "What's bringing this on? I should be the one thanking you for taking me on as a partner. You are the strong one and sometimes I don't know what I bring to the team." She hurriedly picked up her menu and started looking.

Her companion also picked up his menu and pretended to consider his dinner options. _**Luce, what am I going to do with you? You're my heart and soul. All my strength is for you.**_ "You've got your good points, Luce."

"Hmfph. I feel hungry tonight. I guess I am a valuable member of the team, seeing as I negotiated the inclusion of our meals." Not a person to stay down for long, Lucy smiled brightly. "Why don't we enjoy ourselves tonight?"

"Now you're talking Lucy!" Natsu crowed, "We'll eat the mayor out of house and home!"

Lucy was enjoying herself, not to say that she didn't often enjoy being with Natsu - but seeing him dressed up a little, the light flirting going on between them was exhilarating. _**Oh, hot dragon boy! What has gotten into you tonight?**_ "One of everything!" Lucy cheered.

"Ah, very good miss." Surprised at the sudden appearance of the waiter, Lucy gave a little gasp. The server nodded to her and turned his attention to Natsu. "What would sir like?"

"Oh, I'm going to share in the one of everything."

"Excellent. And to drink? We have a most respectable Ume wine, many types of sake and beer."

Natsu considered the waiter's words and stated, "We're celebrating something, so I think the Ume wine is appropriate." The server nodded and departed.

"Natsu!" Lucy hissed, "Celebrating what? Are you crazy?"

"Relax! Aren't we happy for Caleb and Ayame? Isn't this something people do for couples with anniversaries?" Natsu looked bewildered. "I guess we can call back the waiter -"

His companion glared at him, "No! Don't bother, it'll be too embarrassing to explain to the waiter, but how about we send them a bottle to their table. That actually would be a nice thing to do."

"I guess I'm not good with human relationship stuff." Natsu looked a little bit forlorn. "Dragons are much easier to understand."

"Never mind about that, I think you're great." Lucy patted Natsu's hand comfortingly. "I can't think of anyone who works harder to protect his nakama." She left her hand resting lightly on top of his. "I'm proud to be your partner."

"Thank you Lucy." Natsu grinned his irrepressible smile. "I'm proud to be your partner too."

Just then the server reappeared with at least a dozen different dishes and the bottle of plum wine. He set them down and opened the wine. Before he could escape back to the kitchen, Natsu requested that he send a bottle of wine to their friends.

"Certainly sir. Right away." The waiter rushed away to attend to their request.

"Oh, all of this looks good Natsu!" Lucy took her plate and gave herself samples of each dish. She smiled yet again as her partner poured each of them a glass of wine. "Thank you." Lucy dimpled as Natsu raised his glass in a toast.

"To the best partner I've ever had!" They clinked glasses and sipped.

The waiter came back with more dishes and cleared plates away from the first round. "Your friends send their appreciation."

"Aw, how sweet," Lucy giggled. "Appreciation is awesome!"

"Lucy, I think you might have to cut back on the wine."

"Why?" Lucy was honestly perplexed. "I'm fine! I'm no more drunk than last night when we fought the bandits!"

"Sorry, I just worry about you."

"Whatever, Natsu." The blonde steadily ate from the various dishes as they appeared, although her partner consumed most of the food.

"I'm full as full can be Lucy!" Natsu said. "Oh, the water is going to feel so very good."

"Yup!" _**Hot, hot dragon boy. Hehehe...I am a little drunk.**_

They got up from the dining table and made their way back to the room. "Luce, the private hot-spring area I booked is directly out our patio door heading to the left. We can walk there in our towels. It's way closer than the pool we used last night. I think you'll like the privacy."

"I'm sure I will."

Lucy strode to the bathroom and tossed a towel out to Natsu as she stripped on the inside of the secure room. She wrapped a towel around her body and tucked the end between her breasts. She caught her reflection in the mirror and fussed with her hair for a minute. Taking a deep and settling breath, she exited the room.

Natsu had grabbed the towel his partner had chucked at him, but stood there unmoving for a minute before stripping. He was only raising the towel to cover his buttocks as Lucy came out of the bathroom. She got an eye-full of taut and toned ass cheeks.

"Man!" Lucy's words were failing her. The sight of Natsu's naked posterior had driven most of her language skills out of her skull. _**Yum-o.**_

"Hey! This is the fastest you've ever come out of a bathroom, Luce!" Natsu hurriedly shut and secured the towel around his waist. "Don't freak out on me now!"

"I'm good." Lucy giggled. "Real good!" _**Good like your goods!**_ She tittered, "Lead the way to the promised land!"

Perplexed, Natsu shot a questioning look at Lucy. "Oh, onwards to the water. Follow me." He led Lucy directly out the patio door and a short distance to the left. A vine covered bower greeted them. A discrete placard displayed the word 'Reserved'. The pinkette waved Lucy ahead of himself. "Make yourself at home."


	10. Chapter 10: One Good Bite

Lucy stepped into the small hot-spring pool of water. "Ungh, so good! I worked very hard today!"

"I did too Lucy!" Natsu watched as Lucy's breasts became buoyant the further she settled into the water. His eyes gleamed darkly. "This is even better than the other pool. I'd rather have just me and you together than sit soaking with strangers."

"We were alone last night, baka." Lucy laughed. "I didn't even realize this hotel had so many employees."

"I don't know what you're talking about, weirdo." Natsu clambered into the pool and sat close as he dared to Lucy. "Of course this hotel will have lots of employees. I bet they needed to call in extra cooks to fix your meal!"

Natsu's partner made a squinty-eyed face at him and then pinched his arm. "You're the one who ate most of everything! Besides, it's normal to eat a big meal after working up an appetite!" _**You stir my appetite for other things...**_

"Ouch! You're always so violent!" Natsu laughed at Lucy's pouting face. "Should I be worried you'll bruise me all over?" _**I'd let you mark me anywhere you like.**_

Lucy made a show of sniffing and turning her nose in the air. "No."

"Luce, I was just teasing you!" The young man gave her the puppy dog eyed look especially reserved to get him out of dangerous situations. "Let's not fight." He slipped an arm around Lucy's shoulders. "Isn't it a beautiful night? Just relax." Natsu pulled her against his chest. "Hey! I think I just saw a firefly!"

"Over on the right? I think I saw it too! Aren't they the coolest?" Lucy sighed and eased her body even more against Natsu. "Are you ready to tell me what Ayame whispered to Caleb?"

"I thought you would forget all about that Lucy."

"Nope, it's been dancing around my brain all during dinner. You're my best friend, I expect you to tell me what she said." Idly, Lucy started playing with the tail of her towel tucked between her breasts - all that was keeping her modesty intact.

Natsu glanced over and gulped. "It wasn't anything bad."

Lucy pinched his thigh, "Of course it wouldn't be, she only just met us! You didn't have time to make a bad impression, anyhow."

"That wounds me Luce! I make an excellent impression." _**Get closer to sitting on my lap and I'll give you the biggest impression you've ever had.**_ Natsu grabbed Lucy's pinching claw hand and laced his fingers with hers. "No more assaulting my person, please."

"Fine!" Lucy pouted. "Don't tell me. Did you know that a writer's creativity drops off when secrets are withheld from them? It's a fact. Yup, they get writer's block and can't work...at all!"

"Well, since you put it that way, I guess I have no choice in the matter." Natsu leaned back and dragged his best friend with him. He had one arm draped around her right shoulder and their left hands entangled.

Lucy tensed a bit and then made the conscious decision to relax and enjoy pressing up against Natsu's sculpted torso. Happy with the amount of flesh making contact, Natsu took a calming breath and whispered, "She said you were beautiful."

Immediately he could feel Lucy's body tense up. She sat there, body frozen with her mind racing. _**Did I hear him correctly? Did Natsu basically say I was beautiful? What do I do?**_ Her heart felt like it was going to fly out of her chest. Lucy opened her mouth to say something, anything - but her words failed her and she merely let out a small sigh.

Natsu squeezed their joined fingers lightly. Gradually Lucy angled her head to rest against his upper body. Natsu peered down at his Lucy, seeing her snuggle into him was a relief. "You don't have to say anything Lucy." _**Especially if you are going to reject me...**_

"Thank you, Natsu." The blonde said this in a soft voice. "We've been best friends for what seems like forever. I honestly don't know what my life was like before you, I can't imagine my life without you."

The two nakama sat in the warm water and quietly watched the now swarming fireflies. The glowing insects danced in and out of the vines surrounding the bower. A pair of birds called out to one another. Crickets added a soft chirping to the gentle background of nature sounds.

"Without you, I have nothing." Natsu spoke softly but with great assurance. He dislodged Lucy from against his chest to turn and pull her facing him. His knees trapped hers, Natsu took hold of each of her hands and merely sat there, looking into her eyes. Lucy was the first to blush, but Natsu soon coloured to match his hair.

His dark eyes mesmerized Lucy. He angled his head and slowly lowered his face toward his best friend. Bemused, Lucy parted her lips in invitation and panted softly as her excitement mounted. She stilled as Natsu dropped her hands and ran a light, teasing touch up her arms and gently captured her face between callused palms. An electric feeling starting building in the pit of her stomach as Natsu gently touched his lips to hers.

Lucy closed her eyes and moaned softly. Natsu kept the lightest of pressures on Lucy's lips as he kissed his partner. Gaining confidence, he licked the seam of her mouth and darted the tip of his tongue into Lucy's welcoming mouth. He swallowed her next moan and struggled to restrain himself. Panting heavily he pulled his mouth away and hung his head over her shoulder as he caught her up in a strong hug.

"Don't hate me, Luce."

"Why would I hate you? I want this just as much as you do." Lucy was perplexed.

"It feels like I'm taking advantage of you."

Suddenly Lucy bit Natsu overtop the site of his old neck bruise. "Does this feel like you're taking advantage of me?" Her smile was tight and a bit savage. "I like this, it feels strangely good to mark you. In fact, you need more marks." _**Whoa! I have to fight against myself to stop biting him!**_

"You're acting even more weird than usual, Luce. We need to get out of the water and talk about what just happened." Natsu stood up and pulled Lucy with him. He swooped in and gave her a swift kiss on the cheek. "Be a good girl and run back to the room and put some clothes on." _**For my sanity, please cover up.**_

Lucy pouted but brightened when she saw his hands twitch and tremble. "Well, because you asked so nicely - okay. I'll go back to the room and put some clothes on." She exited the pool and dropped her towel. "Be a dear and dry that for me?" Lucy giggled and ran back to their room. _**'Be a good girl' indeed! Oh, I'll put some clothes on. I think your black dress shirt exactly fits the bill.**_ Giggling she found it, pulled it on and buttoned it three quarters of the way. _**One more thing, the red panties! He's gonna get such a nose bleed!**_

Five minutes later, Natsu knocked on the patio door gently. "Luce? You decent?"

"Um, yes?" she answered. "I'm wearing clothes if that's what you mean. Don't be shy, come on in." Lucy was sitting up in bed with the covers pulled up to her neck modestly, calmly waiting for her partner.

Natsu saw how still and serene she appeared, "I just need a couple of minutes in the bathroom and we can talk. Talk about...you know..." Lucy watched Natsu grab boxer shorts and sleep pants as he escaped into the haven of the bathroom.

When he emerged again, Lucy patted the side of the bed. "We can talk easier if we're closer, right?"

"I guess." Natsu slid into bed and turned to face Lucy. "Are you comfortable?" He propped himself up on one elbow, reaching out with his other hand, he dragged his fingertips over Lucy's cheek. Natsu flushed, "I needed to check to see if I was imagining this. You'll be glad to know you're 100% real."

Lucy smiled and it brought out an answering fang tipped smile from Natsu. "Is it okay if I check to see if you're real?" Without waiting for a response, Lucy rolled closer and slipped one leg between his. She placed her hand over his heart and listened to his rapidly beating organ.

Natsu laid there, quiet and unmoving but with his heart hammering in his chest. "Lucy, what do you think is happening?"

"We're in bed talking, like you wanted. If we were doing what I wanted, we'd probably be in the shower."

"Oh...No, I mean between you and me." Natsu's tone was earnest, "I learned something from Caleb today and I don't think we're quite ourselves."

"You mean stories about the Love spring?" Lucy giggled, "Weren't you the one who said dreams were just dreams? Well don't worry too much, I talked with Caleb too and I think we don't have anything to worry about."

"How can you say that? Just one minute ago, you inferred you'd rather be showering with me - and we've never even been on a proper date."

Lucy was surprised. _**Whoa, who knew he knew the word 'inferred' and he's worried about taking me on a 'proper' date?**_ "Hey, what was dinner tonight if not a date? We both dressed up, had a good meal and conversed. That my dear Natsu, was as proper a date as anything."

"Yeah, but -" Lucy cut off his words with a chaste kiss, pressed to the corner of his mouth.

She moved and straddled his waist, sitting with her legs spread and her butt barely making contact with his groin. "I do wonder why I have the strongest urge to bite you. It's a bit weird how you want to talk everything over and all I want to do is get physical." Lucy smirked and wiggled her hips. "I don't know how long I can hold myself back from marking you as mine."

Natsu paled, "You want to mark me as yours? Do you even know what you are saying? You sound like a dragon."

Sticking her tongue out at Natsu, Lucy glared and huffed, "Well, you sound like a girl! Try to quit over-thinking everything! If I didn't want to be in bed with you, I wouldn't! If I didn't like you so much, I wouldn't spend so much of my free time with you!"

"You like me?"

"YES! Why else would I be climbing all over you?" Shaking her head, Lucy lightly punched Natsu in the shoulder. "We've been dancing around each other since we first laid eyes on one another. We became friends and companions and then best friends. We're nakama not only because we're in the same guild, but ...it's so hard to come up with the words when I feel so much!"

Natsu reached out and settled his hands over Lucy's hips, pushing her back slightly. "Just so you know, I like you too. Might be more than like, but if you don't admit more, I don't think I can, either." He enjoyed the look of pique on her face. "I will admit, without you I have nothing."

"Sappy, like a girl." Lucy grinned in response. "Let me show you how I feel."

"I can feel quite a bit from here, Luce. If you don't quit squirming and bouncing, you're gonna experience a whole lot of what I feel."

"You're the one grabbing my hips and grinding on me, Natsu." Lucy laughed at the look of consternation on dragon boy's face. Keeping eye contact, she unbuttoned his shirt a notch and jiggled her charms. "Congrats, you get your man card back, good work checking out my rack."

"Weirdo!"

"You like it... Now, I really want to mark you. Lay back and let me find a good spot." Lucy scrambled off to the side and pushed Natsu to lay on his stomach. She traced his sculpted back muscles to the waistband of his sleep pants. "Not on your back I guess, feels nice, though. Please roll onto your back again." Lucy accompanied her words with a sensual smile. She ran her hands over his biceps, skimming over his collar-bones and down his rippling abs. Bowing her head she pressed her nose against his belly-button and inhaled his scent, a little bit salty and smoky.

"W-w-weirdo!" Natsu was incredibly excited by Lucy's treatment of his body. "Hurry and bite me, anywhere, I don't care!"

"Don't rush me, my hot dragon boy!" Lucy darted out her tongue and tasted the patch of skin overtop Natsu's hipbone. "I think one good bite deserves another." Deceptively gently, she kissed his hip and then suddenly bit down and left a bruise swiftly turning purple.

"Fuck! When did you get fangs?" Natsu quickly flipped Lucy under him and pinned her to the bed. "I'm going to mark you...on your body...on your hipbone...where you bit me." Each slow spoken word ratcheted Lucy's desire higher and higher.

Her eyes lightly glowed as she laughed disbelievingly. "I don't have fangs, you're my dragon boy."

As she laughed, Natsu stoked the column of her neck, across her collar-bone and between her breasts as far as the shirt would allow. He popped open another button and buried his nose in her cleavage. Inhaling deep, he smiled as Lucy's hands started playing with his hair. Pulling slightly away, he carefully opened the shirt one slow button at a time. Spreading the shirt open, Natsu discovered Lucy was in fact wearing the red lace panties. He slowly levered a finger under the elastic band of the underwear and tugged it slowly down over her hipbone. Natsu gently licked and kissed her hip and slowly bit down.

"Damn!" Lucy couldn't help shouting. The electric feeling deep in the pit of her stomach was growing and felt like it was swirling, gathering strength. She smiled and thrust her crotch forward as he released his teeth from her hip.

"You smell amazing." Natsu groaned. "This is too overwhelming. We need to slow down." Even as he protested, the dragon slayer rolled over and pulled Lucy atop his hips. His eyes gleamed as Lucy moved, rubbing herself against his erection. Her upright posture thrust her breasts into prominence and Natsu reached out to caress her tightened nipples. "You look very sexy wearing my dress shirt, Luce."

She gasped and rocked against the cradle of his hips again and again. "Are you sure you want to slow down?"

"Luce, I don't think I can take much more torture. As good as you feel, we need..." Lucy kept working herself against her hot dragon boy. She tuned out his words and allowed her body to climb passion's peak.

"Almost there, Natsu... I swear we can talk as soon as I get what I need..." Frantic now, Lucy ground against his arousal. "Ah, ahhh, oh Natsu!" Her whole body trembled and shook.

Her eyes glowed and a heartbeat later, Natsu felt the echo of her pleasure.


	11. Chapter 11: Date Me, Mate Me

Natsu growled his pleasure. Watching Lucy had been wonderful. Her scent flooded his nose. Aftershocks of bliss rippled outward from low in his belly, cascading through his body.

Lucy's legs trembled and she collapsed onto Natsu's rock hard chest. She burrowed her head into the crook of his neck and giggled. "So what would you like to discuss?"

Natsu began running his fingers through Lucy's hair as he collected his thoughts. "I guess firstly, I'm kinda glad you didn't slow down. Watching you touch yourself was very provocative. Secondly; seriously, your eyes have glowed a couple of times tonight and it's a bit freaky. Thirdly; you definitely had fangs when you bit the shit out of my hip. Fourthly; this is not a complaint, but I for sure felt what you felt when you came. Your eyes glowed and then my eyes rolled back in my head from orgasm overload. That ain't normal."

The blonde continued to giggle. "I thought you might want to discuss being my boyfriend. Now that I've marked you, there's no escaping my clutches."

"So you do want to date me?" Natsu pulled his shirt off of Lucy and began stroking her back slowly. "You like me and want to date me. Say it."

"You're being such girl, but okay. I, Lucy, like you, Natsu. I want to date you." Natsu sighed and grinned even wider. Lucy let her fingers play over the hard ridges of his chest, stroking and swirling random patterns. "Just so you know, I'm going to expect you to put out on a regular basis. I have needs, and if they're not met, I could possibly suffer horribly and die."

Natsu snorted. "Really? Suffer horribly and die?"

"I figured it was worth a shot." Lucy pinched Natsu's nipple lightly. "I'm willing to wait until you're ready for mating. But I want kisses and hugs and hand-holding and recreational body groping when I need it."

"So far that seems acceptable." Natsu nodded, "I don't want to rush and ruin what we're building together."

Lucy yawned. "We can talk about this more in the morning."

"Yes, sweet dreams Luce." As Natsu placed a gentle kiss on Lucy's temple he murmured, "You're mine." The blonde smiled angelically.

Scant minutes later and the two mages were deeply asleep tangled in each other's limbs. An other-worldly glow was emanating from Lucy's body. Fizzing sparks of magic energy swirled and danced over the occupants of the bed.

Like the previous night's dream, the sky over the hot spring was filled with thousands of twinkling stars. The moon was full and glowed faintly pink. The clearing was carpeted in soft grass and the trees were all summer clad with full leaves. Fireflies danced in and out of the trees.

Two figures stood facing each other with hands clasped. The fireflies swarmed around their bodies, then suddenly dispersed as a golden glow rose from the female and painted the male with gold light. One moment later, Natsu and Lucy were fully in Dreamland.

"I thought we'd end up here." Natsu smiled at Lucy and leaned over to give her a sweet kiss on the lips.

Lucy squeezed her partner's hands. "Maybe dreams can be more than dreams. Let's go find that cabin from last night."

Natsu shook his head, "No, I think we don't have to find it, we can call what we need into our dream. All the bits and pieces I learned from Caleb and our experiences are starting to fit together." He closed his eyes and concentrated, upon opening, there was a new gravel path heading off the clearing they stood in.

The blonde flashed Natsu a mischievous smile. "I like your style. Last one to the cabin is on the bottom!" She sprinted away and laughed. Her hot dragon boy chased after her, playfully reaching out to grab her swinging arms as she ran. Shrieking with laughter, Lucy dodged Natsu's grasping hands. "Ha! Try and catch me!" Lucy taunted.

"You can't outrun your dragon!" Natsu laughed. He allowed Lucy to pull slightly ahead, then put on a burst of speed when the cabin came in sight. "Gotcha!" He trapped Lucy in his arms and lifted her off the ground. "You're mine."

Lucy wriggled against his strong arms. "You keep saying that, but what do you mean, exactly?"

The dragon slayer swung Lucy around then allowed her to regain her footing. Patting her ass he continued to walk to the cabin. "Let's sit down for this portion of our discussion, Luce. I think we need to understand what the magic of the hot spring has done for us."

Lucy shrugged and allowed herself to be escorted. The dream cabin was filled with a soft golden light. In addition to a dragon-size bed, there were large cushiony chairs flanking a fireplace and a dining table laden with food.

"Seriously, you've got a willing woman, privacy, a playground of a bed and you want to talk?" Lucy settled into her chair, crossed her legs and smirked.

"Um, don't distract me Luce! What I mean when I say you're mine should be self explanatory - but when a dragon, or dragon slayer gets certain urges, they are only and ever for the person destined to be their mate. This person has a chance or choice to be with the dragon or cut them out of their existence and lead a normal life." Natsu bit his lip and gazed at Lucy with down-turned lips.

Lucy could see emotions warring in Natsu's eyes, the slow hesitancy of his speech was difficult to witness. Lucy wrapped her arms around herself, curling in on herself. She was reminded of how Natsu had hugged her in the private hot spring pool, not more than two hours ago - almost begging her not to hate him. A tight knot was forming in her stomach, anxiousness forming out of random fear. Her eyes lowered and shut themselves tightly. Three heartbeats later, Lucy opened her eyes and lifted her chin. A resolute glow shone in the depths of her chocolate brown orbs.

"You can tell me anything Natsu, and I'll still love you." Fierce pride and devotion chased the fear from the pit of her stomach out into the open. "I've loved you for years and don't want to stop. If you can't say the same, it won't change how I feel."

"I don't want to take advantage of you. You're kind, thoughtful, smart and beautiful. You could be with anyone - someone more worthy, smarter and doesn't cause destruction wherever he goes."

"Do you or do you not want me as your mate?" Lucy leaned forward in her chair. "You're kind, you are thoughtful, I know you're not stupid - it's just an act to shelter your heart. Any woman would want you as theirs, no matter if you destroy property."

"I want and need you Luce...but I refuse to hold you back from achieving the best life you can have."

Lucy sat alone in her chair with her chin cupped in her hand and listened to Natsu's honest words dredged from the depths of his soul. The misery in thought of never being his mate left a sour taste in her mouth. Tears leaked slowly and slipped down her cheeks and dropped onto her hand. Unconsciously she wiped the back of her hand against her cheek and then rubbed the moisture onto her shoulder.

Suddenly Lucy sprang out of her chair and captured Natsu by the shoulders. Blinking back fresh tears, Lucy glared at Natsu. "Damnit! What makes you think a life without you in it is worth having?"

Natsu met Lucy's glare with compassion. "I can't make that decision for you. Right now you're suffering with a mix of my dragon slayer feelings and the magic from the Love Hot Spring."

"The same can be said for you too! If I'm sharing your feelings on mating and marking, then you must be 'suffering' how I feel about needing a confession of love and not rushing physicality. This explains so much, why I couldn't restrain myself and you've been holding back."

The dragon slayer nodded and pulled Lucy into his arms for a long hug. He kissed her temple and stroked her hair. "I know I love you, but we can't go any further until we are sure what we feel is from our hearts and not a deception of the Love Spring."

The blonde allowed her hands to rest on Natsu's backside. She gave one butt cheek a furious pinch. "I think any magic involved in the Love Spring is merely complimentary and not intrusive. It doesn't force, but opens your awareness to doors that were always there. Our magic is what fuels this dream. I can understand your views on mating and marking, now that I've experienced directly the needs you've been feeling. You must have a better knowledge of my wants regarding a love confession before intimacy, now that you've felt my own desires in that regard!"

A small smile bloomed on Natsu's face as Lucy discussed her theory. It grew into the smile Lucy loved best - the wide fang-tipped grin. "You're absolutely right!" He pulled Lucy over to the bed and fell onto it, with her.

Lucy yelped. "Are you putting a move on me? I'll have you know, I _**am**_ that kind of girl!" She giggled and trapped Natsu's wrists above his head. "Submit, or be tickled!"

"Kiss me Luce, kiss me and never let me go."


	12. Chapter 12: Rainbow bruises

Warning, warning, warning! Lemonish Lime Warning!  **_Adult content ahead - unsuitable for_ children**

"I will take that as submission - excellent choice." Lucy slightly parted her lips and moistened them with the tip of her tongue. Slowly she released Natsu's wrists and trailed her fingers down over his arms. She dipped her head and joined her lips to his. Natsu groaned and stole control of the kiss. He sighed and stroked Lucy's tongue with his. Panting harshly, he clutched her hips.

"Luce, you're not fighting fair, vanishing our clothes like that!" His hands slid up from her hips to caress and clutch her rib cage.

Lucy sighed, "I'm not fighting, this is play...we were both way overdressed." She tensed her thighs and rose up slightly and settled down on Natsu's lap. "You can't tell me you don't like this." With one hand stroking his stomach, she pushed herself back and captured the tip of him. His hands fell from her chest and clenched fistfuls of bed sheet. Watching his face intently, Lucy began squeezing and sliding her hand up and then down.

"Luce, this is too much, too soon!"

"Relax, this is just a dream, just a dream..." Lucy started giggling. Perversely, she kept her hand in motion. The contrast of hard flesh and satiny smooth skin was a revelation. She watched her hand travel faster and faster, pumping up and down. His hips started thrusting, synchronized with breathy moans and gasping pants.

"Lucy!" Natsu was in a state of utter bliss. Wet dreams had never felt this good. Another change of pace and her slow slide down paired with a stronger grip on the upward stroke sent Natsu hurtling over the barrier. Lucy shrieked in surprise and then moaned as she felt the pleasure echoed from her lover- a delicious ripple of bliss, making her stomach coil and skin tingle.

"Fuck! That was amazing!" She crawled up and snuggled under his arm and against his side. "I could get used to that."

Natsu nodded weakly and pulled the bed covers up. "If this keeps up, I won't be able to wear white to our wedding."

"Baka!" Lucy nipped his bicep for his impudence. "I need to bite - can't help it, I've got dragon needs."

"Weirdo..." Natsu yawned. "Good night Luce."

"Mmmm," was all she answered.

In the morning, Lucy woke first. She smiled and cuddled her bed mate. Teasingly, she traced the muscles of his abdomen with one hand. Getting bolder when he didn't stir or otherwise indicate consciousness, she ran her hand over his hip and back up to his chest. With an evil grin, she leaned over and lightly bit Natsu's neck. "Good morning," she whispered.

Natsu's eyes snapped open. "Mornin' Luce. You want the shower first? How about I order some room service. I think we can finish early and be home before dark tonight." He sat up in bed and stretched his arms.

Lucy laid on her side watching his display of tanned limbs and toned muscles. "If you're trying to get me out of bed, showing off your body is a step in the wrong direction."

"Lucy, don't make this harder than it already is."

"That's what she said!" Lucy sniggered. "Oh, fine. I shower, you order food, you shower, we eat, we pack and check out. Together, we fix the damaged buildings and hop the train home." As Natsu picked up the room service lacrima, Lucy threw back the bed covers and got out of bed. Within ten minutes she was showered and dressed in fresh clothes.

"I hope room service gets here soon, Natsu. Would you like help washing your back? How about those tricky spots on your front?"

"Luce! I'm pretty sure that's the Love spring influencing your behaviour. I'll just be a few minutes and our food should show up very soon." Natsu grabbed new clothes and shut himself in the bathroom. He walked out when finished and found Lucy setting out the room service items. They sat down and devoured every scrap of food.

"We're ready to pack up and head out. I'll get rid of the service cart and you check for stray belongings, Luce." Natsu tidied the cart and wheeled it out the door and left it in the hallway off to the side.

"Just about everything is packed and ready to go. I have one question Natsu. Do you know where my new red panties went? They are not in my luggage, and I didn't see them in the bathroom or anywhere in the room."

He grinned sheepishly, "Would you believe the Love spring made me steal your panties?"

Lucy put her hands on her hips. "No. Do I even want to know why you took my underwear? Never mind, let's get going."

She bent to pick up her bag, but Natsu got there first and took it with his. "Oh, thanks. Well, let me get the door for you then." Walking peacefully together, they arrived at the work site just as Caleb showed up. "Good morning!" Lucy chirped. "We're all fired up to finish early!"

"Excellent. My wife would like to thank you for the thoughtful bottle of wine last night. I thank both of you as well." Caleb smiled and rummaged in his briefcase. Pulling out a sheaf of papers he perused them and checked off two thirds of the comments. "We have just the structural damage to repair on three of the buildings. I have a good work crew that prepped the work site last night and I think we can power through it and finish ahead of schedule."

Natsu pumped his fist and exclaimed, "I'm all fired up! Let's get going!" He entered the first building and started pulling out garbage for burning. The morning passed faster than Lucy expected. She had called Taurus out of the spirit world first thing and it was spooky how well he had fit in with the construction workers. Lunch was a brief break, and then back to work. Finally, the last pile of rubble had been burnt as the interior walls had been completed.

Lucy thanked and dismissed Taurus. "Natsu, why don't you wash up in the park facilities and I will collect our jewels. We'll meet up at the train station as soon as we're able, okay?"

"Sure thing Luce. I'll take care of our baggage." He captured one of Lucy's hands and pulled her in close. With a shy hesitant smile he kissed her cheek. "See you soon!"

Caleb finished his paperwork and showed up to escort Lucy back to City Hall. "I hope you and Natsu enjoyed our little town's Hot Spring. Without the two of you, we would have had to cancel our festival. I don't mean to pry, but is there any reason you're leaving early?"

Lucy blushed and stammered, "N-n-not really... Well, I guess part of the reason is we want to see how we feel away from the Love spring."

Broadly smiling, Caleb nodded. "Without even seeing the marks, my wife was sure you and Natsu were a happy couple."

"What marks?" Lucy stopped walking and tilted her head at the political aid. The late afternoon crowd surged around them. "I covered mine up with makeup." The blonde flushed and started walking, but slower than before. "So, you must have seen it at lunch. I must have cleaned it off when I washed up."

"Ah, no. It's kind of amusing, and it's what our Love spring is known for actually. After bathing in the spring, love bites are almost always a certainty and they never stay covered for long." Caleb smiled ruefully. "I've been through almost the same thing. You look horrified. Magic ointment takes care of it, or a person can let it fade naturally." He thrust out his right hand and showed Lucy the mark on the inside of his wrist. "Tell me what you see."

"Oh, wow... It's like a rainbow bruise! But I don't understand, why couldn't I see a rainbow bruise on Natsu yesterday?"

"I can only guess that you weren't ready. Other folks can always see clearer looking in than the people involved can see out. It has been a pleasure meeting you and your partner. Give him my well wishes, won't you?" Caleb paused on the steps leading up to City Hall. "Don't let the mayor cheat you. With your assistance, we completed the repairs ahead of schedule and under budget. You didn't hear it from me, but some of the buildings were already suffering damage."

Lucy gave Caleb a quizzical look. "Why are you telling me this? I appreciate the inside scoop, but I haven't done anything special to warrant..."

"Don't over think this," Caleb interjected. "The festival will bring in a tonne of jewels from tourists and the mayor is a bit of a shit-weasel."

Lucy laughed. "Well, thanks for your help. Maybe we'll be back one day to visit the Love spring." She held out her hand and shook Caleb's hand farewell and friendship.

Lucy entered the building and made her way to the mayor's office. She knocked and was told to enter. "Hello Mr. Mayor. I've come for our jewels."

"Yes, we're very happy you've finished on time, but I've been handed invoices for your meal expenditures and they have overrun our allowable estimates. I've argued for leniency with the council on your behalf, but, you see, some of the older business owners are stubborn and refuse to see reason." The mayor drummed his fingers on his desk as he settled further back in his fancy chair. "Would you like to sit down as we discuss this, Miss Lucy?"

Glaring with her hands on her hips she shook her head. "No, I don't need to sit and discuss this matter, because you owe us what you promised and furthermore, because we are leaving now, you can pony up a voucher for a free one night stay at the Hot Spring Hotel - with no expiry date. Consider yourself lucky that you won't be responsible for any of our other meals today."

"Ah, erm..." The mayor was blindsided by Lucy's strong position. With a sour look, he opened a desk drawer and thumbed through the contents. Pulling out a blank letterhead paper, he quickly scribbled the requested voucher. He handed that and an envelope full of 200,000 jewels to the celestial mage.

With an acidly sweet smile, Lucy accepted both. "I also know some of the buildings were already suffering damage. Will I have trouble with this voucher?"

The mayor grunted as he stood up and went over to the corner of his office and rifled through a cabinet. He pulled out a ornate sticker seal and affixed it to the voucher. "Happy?"

Lucy nodded and left quickly. On her walk to the train station she realized she was grinning like a loon. _**Ah, got my rent jewels! Gonna sleep in my bed tonight! Oh! When does Natsu want me to pay up? Don't go crazy Lucy...**_ Catching sight of Natsu waiting on a bench, Lucy ran over and dropped down next to him.

"Hey, did you miss me?" She fluttered her eye lashes and stroked his arm lightly. "I got all our jewels and a voucher for a free one night stay at the hotel."

Natsu turned to see Lucy's beaming face and returned her smile. "Awesome! You're the best! I bought our tickets for the next train, it leaves in 20 minutes. We can board now if you want."

Lucy eyed him suspiciously. "You seem awful eager to get on this train. What's up?"

"Nothing! Maybe I just want to spend some time alone with my girlfriend at her apartment." His words tumbled out in a rush and Natsu blushed. "I was thinking about you the whole time I was waiting. I wanted to sound more cool the first time I said you were my girlfriend."

The blonde turned a delicate shade of pink. "I was just thinking about you too, not just about my rent jewels. I'm not going to change - rent is almost always on my mind, but I might have been obsessing over paying off on our bet."

"Don't worry about that Luce. I will collect when I'm ready - I know you need time to write my bedtime story anyway. More importantly..." Natsu shyly slipped his hand into her lap to capture her hand. "If we get into the train compartment now, before it starts moving, we can have a make out session."

"Hells ya!" Lucy popped up and dashed with her boyfriend into the train and locked themselves into a private compartment.


	13. Chapter 13: Home

Lucy settled into a plush seat in the private compartment they had just entered. She crossed her legs and demurely folded her hands in her lap. Natsu furtively locked the door and set down their luggage in a corner. "I'm going to let you set the pace, Natsu." Lucy patted the seat next to her. "It was your idea..."

Natsu stalked over next to Lucy and stroked the side of her face. He let his fingers work into her hair and pulled back lightly. She squirmed in her seat and uncrossed her legs. "You said we'd go at my pace, right, Luce? I want to feel you up and down my body." Natsu grasped her hands in his and pulled her to her feet. He licked the side of her neck and ran his tongue into the shell of her ear. Lucy shivered at this treatment and let out a breathy moan. Natsu nipped her earlobe and abandoned that for her parted lips.

His lips hovered over hers, almost touching. His arms snaked around her body, one stroking her back and the other caressing her buttocks. Deep brown eyes stared into onyx orbs. Hesitantly, Natsu pushed forward and allowed his tongue to press into Lucy's mouth. She gasped and curled her fingers into his vest. Their tongues duelled for long minutes as their breathing laboured. Suddenly the train jerked forward, making both mages stumble.

"I have even more reasons to hate trains now." Natsu mumbled. "Let me put my head in your lap Lucy." He groaned piteously.

"One minute, gotta unlock the door before the conductor comes to collect tickets." Lucy turned the bolt and returned to a faintly green and moaning Natsu. She sat down and gestured for Natsu to lay down. She ran her fingers through his pink hair and hummed as he settled his head into her lap. Both partners lightly dozed off and on until the train conductor announced Magnolia.

Lucy shook Natsu's shoulder. "Hey, time to get off the train." He grumbled and groggily sat up. "I wonder if Wendy, Charle and Happy are back from visiting the rest of the exceeds?"

"Yah, He usually never takes off for more than a week. It's been, five days or so? We have maybe two more days before he's up in our business." Natsu sat up and grinned at Lucy. "Want to hang out together?"

At the same time Lucy asked, "Natsu, you want to come home with me?" She giggled and exclaimed, "You want I should cook for us? I need to stock up on perishables, though...We can grab something for dinner or go out?"

"Calm down weirdo, like you even need to ask Luce." Natsu picked up both pieces of luggage. "Let's get something fresh you can cook for us. I miss your bed."

"You sure know how to flatter a girl, Natsu!" Lucy pouted. "Let's drop off our baggage and run to the market and see what's available." She led the way out of the train station, reflecting how different things were before the mission to the hot spring. _**I've waited so long to belong to someone, I never considered being with Natsu as seriously possible. Sure, I fantasized, but how could I not? All those muscles...Bad Lucy! **_"Natsu, how do you think the guild is going to react when they figure out we're together?"

Natsu shrugged, "We're almost always together, weirdo. I like being with you - and now it's even better being your boyfriend." He paused in mid-step and flushed. "Oh, you meant together in the relationship sense." Natsu scurried to catch up to Lucy's pace. "To be honest, I'm only concerned with how you feel."

Lucy stopped walking abruptly and whirled around. "Really? So when Happy teases us and Mira gets match-maker crazy and Levy tries to pry information from me..."

Natsu dropped the bags and embraced Lucy, patting her back and stroking her hair. "Hey, Luce...if they bother you, we'll deal with it together. Remember, they're nakama and they care about us. You gotta admit they've been waiting a long time to see us hook up. The betting pot must be ginormous!"

Lucy swatted Natsu on the chest. "I had no idea you paid any attention to that sort of gossip!" She tossed her hair and started walking again. "We're almost to Strawberry street. Can't wait to pay the landlady and get her off my back!"

Natsu watched Lucy's swaying hips as she marched in front of him. He tried to widen his focus, but his gaze kept returning to her amazing ass. _**The last time I was in Lucy's apartment I could only watch, but now...I think she'll let me touch...Why did I never notice before how awesome stairs are?**_

Lucy fumbled briefly with her apartment keys, then unlocked and opened the door. "What the hell!" the blonde shrieked. The kitchen area was a mess, empty cans were scattered on the counter, the garbage can was knocked over and flour dusted every available surface.

The dragon slayer quietly dropped the bags and gestured at Lucy for silence. He whispered, "You want to catch the culprit red-handed?"

She frowned and pondered why Natsu looked so unconcerned. "Oh, I think I know why there's a fish-head on my coffee table now." Lucy crossed her arms and glared. "Happy is gonna be sorry!" The celestial mage quietly made her way over to her bedroom and slowly opened the door.

A small blanket covered lump was in the center of the bed, snoring and sleep talking. "Yummy fish for you Charle! I made you a fish cake!" The snoozing cat rolled and flopped about. "...fish!"

With a rueful grin, Lucy took Natsu by the hand and led him back out into the living room. "I guess I don't have the heart to scare him awake. He sounded so cute!"

"That's just one of the things I like about you Lucy. You are very kind-hearted." Natsu surveyed the mess Happy had made. "If you want to get the food, I will start on cleaning up this mess."

Surprised, Lucy turned to her partner. "I don't think I've ever heard you volunteer to clean anything. I've seen your house, do you even know how to clean?"

Natsu smiled. "This is different. I want you in a good mood to cook." _**And a good mood after for 'dessert'.**_ He picked up the fish-head and flung it in the trash. "Don't forget I like meat. It looks like Happy was into a lot of your canned goods. Use the jewels I earned for the groceries, okay Luce?"

Lucy nodded and exited after grabbing her market bag. Two steps outside the apartment door, she retraced her steps and re-entered her home.

Natsu looked up from picking up the scattered garbage in the kitchen. "You forget something?"

Lucy blushed scarlet. "Yes, come here please." Obligingly Natsu dropped the bit of rubbish into the container and walked over to Lucy. She grasped his face and kissed him sweetly with closed lips. Natsu gasped and Lucy took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, slipping her tongue into his mouth. A passionate groan from her partner reminded Lucy of her mission. "See you in a bit!" Giggling, she left.

"Weirdo..." Natsu mumbled under his breath. He turned back to the kitchen and noticed Happy standing and staring at him with widely rounded eyes.

"You liiiiiiiiiiiiiike her!" The blue cat jumped up and down excitedly. He clapped his paws and did a little jig. "I saw her kiiiiiiiiiissss you!"

"Yes, I do like her and she kissed me. How about you help clean up this mess?"

Happy giggled and flew around the room. "Natsu and Lucy! Sitting in a tree! K - I - S - S- I - N - G!"

"How happy do you think Lucy will be to see you doing that when she gets back?"

Suddenly all the joviality drained out of the exceed as he imagined Lucy yelling and giving him a Lucy-kick to the head. "Mean Lucy! Wah!" Happy ran into the kitchen and started cleaning furiously. "Hurry and help me with this mess! Do you want me to die?" Within ten minutes the kitchen was spotless and even the living room and bedroom had been tidied.

When Lucy got back with the food, Natsu and Happy were engrossed in a conversation. She closed the door behind her and they jumped up from the couch and greeted her.

"I missed you Lucy!" cried Happy. "I cleaned your kitchen for you!"

"That's great Happy, I got you a new fish." Lucy patted the exceed's head as Happy flew over and hugged her. "Do you want to eat supper with us?"

Happy exchanged a look with Natsu, who gave a slight shrug and a half smile. "Yah! I love how you cook! But I'm meeting up with Charle later for a romantic moonlit stroll." Happy jumped off and rummaged in the bag of food. "Oh boy! Salmon! Can we fire roast it?"

Both Lucy and Natsu laughed at Happy's antics. Without too much discussion, Lucy started prep work on supper and Natsu put away various dried goods. Happy perched up high and shouted out orders randomly. "Don't use too much salt! Leave on the head, it's the best part!"

Lucy glared at Happy. "Then why was there a fish-head on my coffee table when we got here?"

The cat eyed the knife in her hand as she kept cutting vegetables. He gulped and fidgeted. "I changed my mind! I forgot! I'm meeting Charle now!" Happy flew down from his perch and landed on Natsu's shoulder, whispering something in his ear and then addressing Lucy, "Can I have my salmon to go?"

With an evil grin, Lucy wrapped the fish in a newspaper. "Why yes, you can have it to go!" She flipped it at the startled cat who caught it mostly with his face. "That's for breaking into my house and making a mess!"

Crying crocodile tears, Happy flew away with his treasured fish. "Don't wait up for me! I'll let myself in later!"

"Whatever." Lucy grumbled as she kept working on preparing supper.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Natsu was slouching up against the table, just watching Lucy.

"Well, I thought we'd grill the meat on the brazier. Can you manage to light it, safely?" Lucy tempered her words with a soft smile. She set out the instrument in the centre of the table, putting the platter of meat off to the side and another of vegetables.

"Wow, this looks great!" Natsu used his flame magic to light the grill. "My mouth is watering already."

The blonde nodded, "We can start grilling as soon as the rice is cooked, in five minutes or so. What were you and Happy talking about when I got home with the groceries?"

"Nothing much, Luce. I asked him how his visit went and how things were with Charle." Natsu chuckled and Lucy stared questioningly at him. "He never gives up on her. Every day he tries to give her a fish she doesn't want, but he never gets discouraged. Oh yah, Happy saw you come back in and tickle my tonsils."

Lucy's mouth gaped open and her face went chalk white. "Urg...ah...W-what?"

Patiently Natsu repeated himself. "Happy saw you come back in and kiss me. Don't worry, I had a little talk with him and he understands." He stood up straight and went to the cupboard where the plates were stashed, picking up two and the cutlery to go with them. Natsu put them on the table beside where Lucy was sitting and leaned over her shoulder. "I told him to talk to you before he runs off at the mouth."

"Oh! That's very thoughtful! I'm going to take a page out of your book and try to not worry about what other people think." Lucy blushed and fidgeted with the cutlery. "I'm concerned with how you feel, too."

Brushing his lips to her ear he whispered, "Play your cards right and you can find out after dinner how I feel."


	14. Chapter 14: Respect

"When did you get so bold?" Lucy laughed with delight. "Do you know how hard it is for me to not jump you right now?"

Natsu groaned. "I'm so torn! I'm so hungry and you're just so beautiful!"

Smirking, Lucy got up from the table and checked the rice. "Well, the rice is ready. Let's get to grilling!" In a companionable silence, the two partners cooked and consumed their feast. "Natsu, we can leave the dishes for the morning. Let's just pile them in the sink and we can relax on the couch."

"Whatever you say Luce." replied Natsu with a twinkle in his eye. "How much relaxing are you up for? Do you think we could relax in your bed better?"

A bit shocked and titillated, Lucy dumped the plates in the sink with a clatter. "Aren't you still concerned about wearing white to your wedding?"

"Yes and no, besides - don't you mean 'our' wedding?" Natsu strode over to Lucy and grabbed her hand, tugging her over to the couch. "Let's turn on the lacrimavision and pretend to watch a movie."

"What if I wanted to 'relax' in the bedroom?" Lucy stood there, pressed up against the comforting warmth of Natsu. "I think I'd rather lay down and pretend to listen to some music." She winked at her dragon boy.

"That can be arranged." Holding hands they entered the bedroom. Lucy flicked on the light and gasped. Natsu smiled his fang-tipped grin. "Do you like them?"

Lucy rushed over to her nightstand and took a deep breath of the bouquet's perfume. "How did you manage this?"

"Happy."

"Ah. You conspired with him to leave early, huh?" Lucy was bemused with such a tender gesture. _**Who's been telling him what girls like?**_ "Thank you for such lovely flowers."

Natsu turned on the small music player Lucy kept in her room. Soft music poured out of the speakers. "I remember you said you have certain needs, and I would not like to be responsible for you suffering." He ran a slow finger from her elbow up over her shoulder and across her collarbones.

Lucy could feel heat rising from low in her belly. The soft touch of Natsu's finger ghosting over her skin made her pant lightly. "What about your needs, Natsu?" Lucy took a shuddering breath, watching his eyes drop to her cleavage.

His hand trembled and glided over the tops of her breasts. "I think I need to get comfortable." Lucy snickered and pushed Natsu's vest off his shoulders. He shrugged it off the rest of the way and allowed it to drop in a pile. Next, he removed his scarf and folded it neatly and placed it on top of Lucy's dresser. He turned back to face Lucy and witnessed her pulling her shirt over her head. For a brief moment, the very air in Natsu's lungs seemed to vanish and his heart stuttered. _**Bouncy, bounce...**_

Lucy flung her shirt at Natsu and laughed when he caught it with his face and allowed it to drop to the floor. "You should have been able to grab hold of that!"

Stalking over to his prey, Natsu's eyes darkened and his voice roughened. "I see something better to grab hold of, Luce." He captured a mound in each hand and gently squeezed. The dragon slayer watched his mate close her eyes and moan. Bending over he licked from her neck to between her breasts. "You'd let me know if I do something you don't like, right Luce?"

"Y-y-essss! I definitely like what you're doing right now." The pinkette stuck out the tip of his tongue. A strangled yelp was his reward. Intrigued with the taste and texture of his mate's skin, Natsu sucked and licked. Lucy panted and fisted Natsu's hair. "I thought I was going to get to find out how you 'feel'."

Natsu plucked Lucy's hands from his hair and placed them riding low on his abdomen. "How's that Luce? Why don't you help me ditch these pants?" He growled as her fingers stroked his flesh and wandered over to his waistband; unbuttoned and then unzipped his fly and finally pushed the offending garment over his hips and down to the floor. Placing his hands on Lucy's hips, Natsu grinned. "Time to lose your skirt. I've been wondering which pair of panties I'm going to find."

Their eyes locked and Lucy's hands drifted to the zip of her skirt. Natsu's callused hands brushed hers away to unbutton her skirt and gently unzip the tiny article of clothing. The skirt fell with scarcely a rustle. "Nice choice, Luce - you smell amazing."

She blushed and backed into the edge of the bed and fell back. Natsu crawled onto the bed overtop of Lucy's sprawled figure. He burrowed his arms around and under her back and with a lithe twist, reversed their positions. "Touch me. There's only one rule; no removing my boxer shorts."

Lucy made a moue of disappointment. "But that's where you keep the best toys!"

Natsu let out a shout of laughter. "Happy is coming back tonight and if he sees you playing with my wedding tackle, nothing I threaten him with will keep him from blabbing to all our nakama."

Lucy let out her own hoot of laughter. "Wedding tackle? Where did you hear that phrase?"

Looking a little put out, Natsu turned his head and muttered, "Wakaba and Macao."

"Was this something they told you directly or overheard?"

"Why does this even matter, weirdo?" Natsu blushed. "You're losing your window of opportunity."

The blonde nodded and settled her body adjacent to his, laying on her side while he lay flat on his back. Lucy propped herself up on her right elbow and used her left hand to trail down Natsu's abdomen and brush over the contents of his boxers. The material tented and Lucy smiled. "No removing the boxers, huh?" Lucy shifted closer to Natsu's neck and licked the juncture of neck and shoulder. "Mmmm, salty and smoky." Natsu moaned as Lucy sucked on his pulse point and bit down. She couldn't resist the urge to mark her mate.

"Damn, woman! Have you been filing your teeth?" As sharp as the pain had been, it was also a pleasure and it thrummed through Natsu's blood. "One good bite deserves another!" He pulled Lucy so she straddled his hips. "Lean forward." His commanding tone was arousing and Lucy complied, breathing in short pants. Natsu clutched Lucy's hips tightly and rubbed. "You like this?"

"Y-y-es!" Lucy moaned and bucked against Natsu's control.

"I'm going to bite you Luce - where do you want me to bite you? On your amazing ass? The top of your thigh?"

"Anywhere! You're making me crazy!"

"Anywhere?"

"Dammit, bite me before I go insane!"

Natsu surged up and sank his fangs into the tender flesh of her left breast. Lucy thrashed her hips and screamed her pleasure. A chain reaction started in Natsu's groin and he felt the echo of her ecstasy. "Damn, it keeps getting better and better."

Spent, Lucy collapsed atop the dragon slayer. "Mmm, can you do me a favour and grab me a nightie? I don't think my legs work right now."

"I suppose I could, for the right price." Natsu grinned at his partner. "I want you to give me your panties in the morning that you're wearing right now."

"I just bought these! When did you become such a pervert?" Lucy sighed, "I guess as long as I eventually get them back - with any and all other pairs you might have 'accidentally' appropriated." She stretched out on the bed and yawned. "I'm going to be covered in bruises, aren't I?"

Natsu carefully slipped out of the bed and rummaged in the tall chest of drawers for a night gown. "It makes the dragon side of me very happy to see my mark on you. You seem to enjoy biting me too." He picked a modestly cut gown from her lingerie and brought it over to his reclining partner. "It does seem a shame to cover up your breasts."

Lucy sat up in bed and pulled the gown on overtop her head. She squirmed about and shimmied the night gown over her hips until it reached mid thigh. "Thanks, Natsu. Now when Happy shows up, I'll be respectable." She rolled over and pulled the comforter atop herself.

The dragon slayer sat on the edge of the bed and turned to face his partner. "Being respectable is very important to you, isn't it?"

Tilting her head, Lucy regarded her best friend silently for a moment. "That's another long discussion. I guess the short answer is yes, but I want to have my respect for me more than respect from others' expectations."

"So...you're kind of saying that you're okay with me having your underwear, and if others think it's wrong, the fact that you don't mind outweighs public concern?"

The blonde slowly nodded. "Pretty much. As long as we are both in agreement as to how far we show our love for one another in public or private...it's really nobody else's business. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Natsu grinned. "I think so. We can mate when we decide we're ready." He lifted up the bed cover and crawled in beside his brown-eyed blonde. "I'm ready to fall asleep in your loving arms."


	15. Chapter 15: Love Letter

"Lucy! Lucy!" Happy jumped up and down on the pillow sticking out from under the celestial mage's head. "Hey! Wake up! I have something special for you!" The exceed patted her face with a furry paw. "Natsu stole all your underwear!"

"What?!" Lucy grimaced and rubbed sleep grit out of her eyes. "I'll kill him! And, I'll chop you into little pieces if you don't stop jumping on my pillow!" She picked up her pillow and threw it at the now crazily flying cat.

"You're so mean! Wah!" Happy dodged the hastily aimed missile. "I have a letter for you from Natsu!"

"That's not going to save you, you dumb cat!" Lucy stumbled out of bed and started chasing Happy around her bedroom. "Why would Natsu steal all my underwear?"

Happy giggled. "I just wanted you to wake up! I was getting bored!" He flew over to Lucy's chest of drawers and picked up an envelope and dropped it down into the blonde's hands. "I bet it's a love letter! He liiiiiiiiiiiiiikes you!"

"I know! We're dating now you idiot flying flea trap!" Lucy gave up on catching Happy and figured she would start her morning routine. She stretched and yawned as she moved through the kitchen to the washroom. She decided to read the letter with her morning tea and set it down on the bathroom counter. Lucy washed her face, brushed her teeth and used the toilet. After washing her hands, she realized something was...off. _**Mmmm, something is different, I'm sure it'll come to me - I need a shower. That will wake my brain!**_ Flipping the taps to the tub on, she bent over to adjust the heat and flow. After another jaw-cracking yawn, Lucy pulled her night gown over her head and dropped it in her hamper. In the midst of stepping into the tub, Lucy screeched. _**What the hell! Natsu stole my panties right off my ass!**_

"Lucy! Are you okay?" Happy knocked on the bathroom door. "Was it a bad love letter?"

"Never mind Happy! I'm fine! I...uh...saw a spider! If you can wait a bit, I'll make you breakfast and we can have a little chat, okay?"

"That's so nice Lucy! You don't deserve half the mean things people say about you!" Happy let his stomach decide to stay even though when Lucy had said the words 'a little chat' he had turned a paler shade of blue. Smiling he went to the kitchen and started munching on a package of crackers.

When Lucy walked out of her bedroom, dressed in a short skirt and tight sweater, she suddenly remembered Natsu's letter. Smiling, she entered the kitchen and put the kettle on to boil. "Happy, would you like sardines for breakfast?" Without waiting for an answer, the blonde hurried to where she'd left the envelope and tucked it into her back pocket.

Happy was hanging out of the top cupboard when Lucy came back into the kitchen. "I can only find one tin of sardines! You need to put that on your grocery list."

Lucy only smiled and readied the tea pot for the now boiling water. "Do you want tea?"

"Yah! With lots of milk!" Happy flew to the chair opposite the tea service and watched Lucy curiously. "What was in Natsu's love letter? Did he write he loooooooooves you?" The exceed waited with shining eyes for his friend to react.

The celestial mage poured two cups of tea and set the one for Happy closer to him. "So, you saw me kiss Natsu last night. You probably want to tell everyone in the guild about it - but I'd like you to consider keeping this quiet until...well, until we decide to let the others know."

"Why can't I tell them?" Happy grinned. "You liiiiiiiiiiiiiike Natsu!"

Stirring her tea, Lucy sighed softly and nodded. "I love him, want to stand beside him and announce we're dating - but just not yet."

"Aye sir!" Happy snapped off a smart salute and started drinking his tea. "I'm starving! Feed me!"

"Wow Happy, I thought you would need more convincing! Why aren't you teasing me more?" Lucy got up to open the tin of sardines and dump them on a plate for the cat. Placing it in front of Happy, she leaned down so her face was on the same level as his.

"Natsu already talked to me! He wants you to be happy more than anything in the whole of Earthland!" Happy scooped up a paw-full of sardines and stuffed his mouth. "Thish ish so delishus!"

"Well, thanks for respecting my wishes Happy." Lucy smiled and reached for her letter. _**From my boyfriend!**_ Ripping the envelope and scattering the pieces, she unfolded the missive. In largish but neat printed letters, Natsu had written two paragraphs.

**Dear Luce-My-Mate,**

**You looked so cute this morning, I decided to let you keep sleeping. I hope you find time to work on my bedtime story. I have already taken my prize from last night - you are a very deep sleeper. Did you know the bruise I made on your hip is rainbow coloured? Weirdo. **

**I am writing to invite you out on our first official date. Will you go out with me? I am going to the guild to ask for ideas. Don't worry, I won't ask Wakaba or Macao for help. Be ready by 5 pm.**

**Love, Natsu-Your-Mate**

**P.S. I'm all fired up for tonight!**

As Lucy read her letter, her smile grew wider and brighter.

"I wanna know what it says!" Happy had finished cramming his gullet full and was trying to wipe the sardine oil off his face but only succeeded in smearing it all over. Reaching out with a dripping paw toward the letter, he tried to snatch it up. Lucy cried out and pulled it away to hold it protectively to her chest.

With a shaking finger extended, Lucy ordered Happy to leave, "Damned cat! Out!"

"Meany! I'm telling Natsu!" Happy cried as he flew around the room, into Lucy's bedroom and then out the window.

"Tell him! I don't care! You're not ruining my first love letter from Natsu!" Lucy yelled chasing after Happy her voice gaining in fury and strength as she ran, bellowing the last four words into the street below. Busy shaking her fist at Happy, she didn't notice the large group of her guild mates walking below on her street who could clearly hear her piercing shriek.

Gray elbowed Gajeel, "Didja hear that? Who knew flame-brain could even write?"

The Iron dragon slayer grimaced at the ice mage. "I have super dragon hearing, my ears are ringing from Bunny girl. She'd make an excellent fish-wife. Gi hehe!"

Juvia who was walking on the other side of Gray turned to Levy and clapped her hands. "No more love rival!" Her eyes lit up and she began envisioning what Gray would write in a love letter to her.

Levy nodded slightly and scurried over to Erza to share her concerns. "I don't think Lucy meant to be shouting that in public."

Looking contemplative, Erza equipped her sharpest sword into her hand. "I will have to teach Natsu some manners if he is not respecting Lucy the way he should."

Gray hooted with laughter and Gajeel snorted. Juvia was too busy drafting her reply love letter to Gray to pay attention. Levy was the only mage in the group to be horrified and begged Erza to see reason. "No! I mean, yes he should respect Lucy, but we don't know what the letter even says! If we talk to him about it, he'll know we know... It's really none of our business!"

"Oi Shrimp! You're Bunny girl's best friend, she's bound to tell you news like this first. Why don't you go and visit her?" Gajeel stood in the middle of the group of friends and pointed to the front door of Lucy's apartment building. "Either you go or we send in Erza and then you to sweep up the pieces."

"Okay, okay! I'm going! Why don't you leave? If Lucy sees all of us hanging out in front of her building, she's gonna get suspicious. Erza, be sure to tell me later if the new cake shop is any good. Have a good time at Le Gateau Gigantique!" Levy waved goodbye to her nakama. They casually strolled off, still discussing Natsu and Lucy. She tugged her hair band into place and took a few deep breaths before calmly walking into the apartment building and up the stairs to her best friend's home.

Lucy was sitting down finishing some toast and re-reading Natsu's letter for the umpteenth time when she heard knocking at her door. "Just a minute!" She hollered as she scrambled up from her chair, picking up the letter and running to her room to place it in her lingerie drawer. "I'm coming! Hold your horses!" She jerked the door open, trying to affect a nonchalant attitude. "Hi Levy! What brings you here?"

The solid script mage went from looking relaxed to pained. "Uh, I was wondering how your last mission went! Mira told us you and Natsu went to a hot spring hotel...so how was it?"

Lucy looked at her best friend and made a sickly smile. "Great! We totally got paid in full! Is that all she told you?"

The blue haired girl shrugged. "Well, she did say there was a bet riding on the outcome of your mission - something about your bed and Natsu... I mean Natsu in your bed...ah I can't do this! I heard you shout into the street below Natsu wrote you a love letter!" Levy was practically bouncing in place as she spoke in a rush. "Tell me! Tell me! Spare no details!"

The blonde looked ashen. "You heard me shouting? Double damned idiot cat!"

Levy nodded, "I bet even the boat guys heard you screaming. But never mind that! Tell me what happened!"

"Sit down and I'll make us some tea. It's a long story - I'm going to swear you to secrecy for now. I just need a little time before the guild finds out what's going on between myself and Natsu." Lucy had glumly started talking, but her eyes shined as she mentioned her partner. She filled the kettle and prepared the teapot, whisking away Happy's cracker crumbs and wiping up sardine oil. Lucy fiddled and tidied, not making eye contact with Levy until she sat down to steep the tea.

Leaning forward with her pointed chin in her hands, Levy smiled widely at Lucy. "I'm so excited for you - and Natsu of course! Spill it woman!"


	16. Chapter 16: Gifts

"I'm not ready to share all the details, but I guess the beginning is the bet. Can you believe it? I lost!"

Levy looked bewildered. "Okay, so what was the bet?"

The celestial mage cringed. "The bet was if Natsu destroyed any property on our mission, he would have to pay my rent this month, and if he didn't, he'd be allowed to sleep in my bed whenever he wanted and I couldn't complain about it. We captured the bandits together, and I was the one responsible for flooding a park and some buildings." At this admission, Lucy flushed. "That's not even all of the bet, he got me angry and increased the stakes, if he had destroyed anything he would've had to pay two months rent for me - and if he didn't - I would write him a bedtime story, tuck him in and give him a goodnight kiss." Lucy's face was beet red as she finished outlining the situation. "I owe him a Bedtime Dragon Story, a tucking in and goodnight kiss."

"This still doesn't clear up why he wrote you a love letter!" Levy squirmed in her seat. "How can you jump through a relationship and go directly to love letters without dating?" Levy gulped when she saw Lucy pale and almost spill her tea. "Ah, how long have you two been sneaking around?"

Aghast, Lucy shook her head vigorously. "It's not like that at all! Things happened on our mission...so we're together and dating and I'm his mate and he's mine..." She gave Levy a pleading look. "I know it's really sudden to hear that me and Natsu are a couple, but..."

"Oh, Lucy!" Levy chirped. "I myself have placed a bet with Mira about when you and Natsu would hook up. You've lost me a bit of jewels, but your happiness means more to me. It's so sweet and about time! Did somebody smack him with a love spell?" Levy giggled and waited for Lucy to join in, but her mirth trailed off when it became apparent that the blonde became despondent over that jest.

With down-turned mouth, Lucy noisily stirred her tea. "Ha, not so funny you should mention a love spell. The hot spring the hotel boasts is actually a love hot spring. We had an experience with it and that is the condensed version of how Natsu and I hooked up."

The petite blue haired girl punched her fist down on the table. "I know you are not going to skip over all the good parts! You're looking at a girl with no romantic prospects! Don't even start with Jet and Droy, I'd rather see them with each other than either of them with me! We're all just friends that make a great team."

Lucy jumped a little at the vehemence with which her friend had clouted the table. "Vicious much? You've been hanging around Gajeel too much if you're attacking innocent furniture like that!"

A knock at the door interrupted the two girls. Lucy got up from the table to open the door. A uniformed messenger smiled politely and held up a clip board and scanned the information written down for the delivery. "Hello, I'm looking for a Miss Lucy?"

The blonde suspiciously nodded, "Yes, this is her."

"Excellent! Please sign here and I can give you your package." The delivery man proffered the clipboard and indicated the line for Lucy's signature. Shrugging, Lucy signed and accepted the box tied with a pink ribbon that was lighter feeling than its size indicated.

Closing the door, Lucy turned to Levy and said, "That was weird. I don't remember ordering anything! It's been one hell of a day for surprises already."

Filled with impatience, Levy shook the box as soon as Lucy set it down beside the tea service. "Woman, you best be opening that - now."

"Okay, calm down!" The blonde pulled the bow untied and then lifted the lid off the box. She unfolded several layers of tissue to unveil three dozen pairs of exquisite lace and silk underwear. "...erm...ah...I don't know what to say."

"Oh, why would Natsu be sending you underwear? Naughty, naughty Lucy! You've been letting him rip them off of you?"

Red faced, Lucy slapped the lid back onto the box and snatched it off the table to deposit it in her bedroom. Walking back to the table, Lucy crossed her arms and sighed. "Levy, I need to work on writing that story. I don't mean to give you the bum's rush, but...Natsu is picking me up at 5 pm and I need time alone. I promise to give you more details, but just not right now."

Levy popped out of her chair and skipped over to Lucy to give her a hug bursting with enthusiasm. "I'm so happy for both of you! As your best friend and lender of romance fiction, it is your solemn duty to reciprocate with some practical information." The petite girl giggled and finished her cup of tea. "I'll see you later and you better dish me some dirt!"

The celestial mage ran back to her room as soon as she ushered Levy out the door. Upending the box onto her bed, she examined the scanty panties. A note fluttered from the bottom of the package, pouncing on it, Lucy flipped open the card and scanned the message.

**Luce, Just a token of my appreciation of your fine ass - fine underwear. P.S. You made the bruise on my hip rainbow coloured too! Weirdo. Love, Natsu**

Her smile stayed with her and grew as she worked on Natsu's bedtime story and then primped for their date.

Morning: Take Two

Natsu woke with an armful of beautiful, lightly snoring blonde. He luxuriated in her scent and warmth, pressing a kiss to her temple. He laid there with his mate partially draped over his torso and her legs tangled with his. The young man turned his head and spied Happy curled up on the foot of the bed on the right-hand side. The room was gradually being stained with the dawn's blush.

_**Everything I've ever wanted, here in this room. My mate, my cat, and Lucy's bed. Well, except for Igneel - but he'd never fit in a bed this size and that's just weird. Lucy's weirdness much be catching. Igneel would be so proud of me, I found my mate and she wants to be my mate. I just have to figure out dating and relationships to keep her contented. **_

"Pssst! Natsu!" Happy spoke softly, stretching on his back, kicking his feet in the air. "Didja get some last night? I bet those flowers sealed the deal!"

"Not so loud! And, that is none of your business!" Natsu looked at Lucy's deeply sleeping face. "Do you have a death wish? She hears you talk about our sex life and you'll be short one of your nine lives."

The blue cat shivered with fear and softly moaned. "She'll Lucy-kick me into next week!" Happy sprouted his wings and escaped to the kitchen.

Slowly, reluctantly, Natsu withdrew from the slumbering form of his girlfriend. He slung his scarf around his neck and stood watching his partner. _**I want to give us the best first date. Time to borrow a page out of your book - I will have to do some research.**_ Natsu stealthily uncovered Lucy's lower portion of her body and carefully removed her panties. _**You owe me these, Luce. **_Carefully, he pulled her gown back down and re-tucked her under the covers. Wearing a triumphant grin, he scooped up the rest of his clothes and tip-toed out of the bedroom.

After closing the door with a soft snick, Natsu spied the exceed rooting in the garbage. "Happy, we're gonna have to be quiet for a bit. I need to read some of Lucy's stories for clues."

"Clues? Like a mystery?" Happy flew over to where Natsu was sitting on the couch having just pulled on his pants and putting on his vest. "Are you gonna play ninja?"

The male flushed and hurriedly stuffed the incriminating panties into his pocket. "Ah, these are for later. I need paper, a pen, an envelope and Lucy's writings. I have a plan and you can help me."

"Aye, sir!" Happy shot a paw into the air, his big eyes shining with excitement. "What do you need me to do?"

"Shhhh! Don't get too loud! After I write this note and check out what Lucy's written, I need you to make sure she gets my letter." Natsu sat down at his partner's desk and rifled through the drawers, searching for and finding folders of various stories. He thumbed past categories labelled 'horror', 'comedy', 'kink + fetishes' (which was rather large) and coming to rest on 'relationships'. _**Jackpot! There's gotta be some info in here I can use!**_ The dragon slayer settled back in the chair and read.

After gleaning all he could from Lucy's stories, Natsu was feeling better prepared and confident in his plan of action. Boldly, he wrote his note to Lucy on a fresh sheet of paper and sealed it away in an envelope. "Happy, make sure she gets this when she wakes up. Try to let her sleep another hour or so, okay? No opening my letter to her, or peeking. This is between her and me." Natsu stood up and felt the bikini panties shift in his pocket, giving him another idea.

Silently he let himself back into the bedroom and emptied her panty drawer into a bag and backed out of the room. _**Surprises are a big factor in her romance stories, so this is sure to please her.**_ Back in the living room, Happy was examining the envelope. "Hey, I'm serious about respecting Lucy's wishes about our relationship, so no prying."

The exceed guiltily dropped the missive and held out his empty paws. "I wasn't doing anything! What's in the bag?"

"Just something for my treasure hoard. You clear with what I want you to do?"

Happy giggled. "You liiiiiiiiiiiiiike her! When she wakes up I make sure she gets your letter and that's it!" The little blue cat waved good-bye to Natsu. "See ya later!"

"Thanks, buddy. I'll make sure to get you some fish." Natsu slung the bag full of panties over his shoulder and exited the apartment through the front door. _**Next stop, drop my treasure at home and then out to the best ladies' clothing shop in town.**_ Whistling a merry tune, the young male jauntily made tracks to his shack. Stepping inside his home, quickly he unearthed his secret stash of unmentionables and added the fragrant bikinis to his cache. The bag of underwear he slung into his hammock to use as a makeshift pillow.

Jogging back into Magnolia, Natsu pondered which shop to purchase his gifts for Lucy. _**I think I should just go to the guild and ask some of the ladies of Fairy Tail where they shop.**_ Pleased with his course of action, Natsu put on a burst of speed and fairly flew to the guild. Bursting through the doors, he scanned the early morning crowd for female figures. Spotting Mira behind the bar, he hurried over to speak to her.

"Mira! Mira! I need your help!" Natsu hopped on a barstool and grinned over at the barmaid. _**Time to extract information and not spill the beans about me and Lucy!**_ "Can I get a breakfast special and some assistance?"

"Why sure Natsu!" Mira smiled kindly and patted him on the hand. She studied his face for a minute and suddenly transformed into one of her Satan souls. Pinning his hand under her talons she leaned forward and smiled evilly. "You will tell me everything that happened on your job."

Gulping, Natsu dumbly nodded and stuttered, "I p-p-promise!"

"I'm glad we understand one another! Your food will be ready in a little bit. You should spill your guts to me while we're alone." The sweetness of Mira's tone was in direct opposition to her frightening appearance.

"Can y-y-you change back?" Natsu's grin had turned sickly. "You're the person who orchestrated us taking this mission, you knew about the Love Hot Spring - you manipulated the both of us!"

"And?" Mira gave one last intimidating look at Natsu before transforming back into her own affable appearance. "I'm just anxious to see what your babies will look like! I want to be a godmother! Is that so wrong?" Her bright blue eyes shone with suppressed tears. "I know you know there's a betting pool on when you and Lucy were going to hook up!"

"Aw! Don't cry!" Natsu shifted uncomfortably on his stool. _**Crap! She's gonna weasel everything from me in no time! I gotta respect Lucy's wishes and keep our private business confidential.**_ "I made a promise to Lucy and I need to keep it."

Mira nodded and left to place his food order. Natsu slumped over on his stool and rested his head on the bar. Minutes later he felt a tap on his shoulder and straightened up. A large plate piled high with meat steamed in front of him.

"Sorry I pressured you, Natsu. I just really, really want to see you and Lucy happy together." Mira apologized with downcast eyes, "I know I go to extremes sometimes, but for reals - Lucy's blonde prettiness plus your studly hotness equals some super sweet attractive chilluns!"

"Um...thank you?" Natsu wasn't too sure if what Mira had said was a compliment or even if all of her words were real. "There is something you could help me with..." The young male toyed with his food as he screwed up his courage to continue talking to Mira. "Ah, I need the name of the best ladies' clothing store you can think of." He made eye contact and continued, "I'm going to buy Lucy some gifts and I could use your input on some date ideas."

The white-haired bar maid clapped her hands in delight. "Both me and Lissana love the boutique down on Belter Street. It's expensive but the quality is unmatched!" She burbled on and on extolling the virtues of various shops while the dragon slayer gulped his food. "I feel just a little bad for withholding information about the mission, but I'm going to make it up to the both of you!"

Natsu burped into a napkin and dropped it on his empty plate and pushed it away. "I appreciate you wanting to help. I'm not sure where to take Lucy on our first date. What do you think?"

"Lissana! Get over here!" Mira shouted across the guild floor. Natsu looked worriedly at the bar maid beckoning her sister. "I need to pick your brain! What do you think is the best first date activity?"

Mira's younger sister pondered the question. "What else is going on? Who's involved in this date? I need details!" She smiled at her older sister and then at Natsu. "Oh! Is Natsu finally asking Lucy out? I've got to check the betting calendar. I don't remember which dates I picked!" Lissana hugged Mira and they both squealed with joy. "Beautiful babies!"

The pinkette sat there on his stool, for all practical intents and purposes, forgotten by the take-over mages. _**Damn, I need to figure out mine and Lucy's first official date. As long as Mira and Lissana are in fan girl mode, they're of no help.**_ "A-hem!" Natsu fake coughed.

Lissana calmed down first and addressed her childhood friend, "First dates are tricky - but don't worry! Me and sis will help! Will this be an afternoon or evening date?"

"In the evening - I'm picking her up at 5 pm."

"Excellent!" Mira tapped her fingers on the bar. "Food will have to be involved, so either dinner out or a picnic!" Lissana nodded in agreement. The older sister spoke up again, "Where you go should be somewhere special to the both of you - or a place she has mentioned to you."

Scratching his head, Natsu slowly smiled. "I know just the place for a picnic!"

"How romantic!" Both sisters had wistful expressions. Mira pulled herself together first. "Allow me to make the food for the picnic. I serve everyone in the guild and I know both of your preferences regarding food anyway. Come by around 4:30 to pick it up."

"That would be awesome, Mira! Thank you so much!" Natsu jumped off his barstool. "What else should we do?" Mira exchanged a long look with her sister and they both burst out laughing. The dragon slayer looked confusedly from one girl to the other and slowly backed away as they continued laughing until tears rolled down their cheeks.

"Women are crazy," muttered Natsu.

"That's a man!" bellowed Elfman.

"Eh? That doesn't even make sense!" Natsu looked at the third Strauss sibling. "Do you ever think women are complicated on purpose?"

Elfman smiled an off-putting dreamy grin. "Ever, she's super complicated but every hoop she makes me jump through is worth it."

"Okay..." Natsu drawled. "I just ate and that isn't helping me digest. From a purely hypothetical standpoint, what sort of things do women like doing on a date?"

"My Ever likes being in charge." Elfman gave Natsu a self-conscious grin. "But, I mean, speaking from a purely speculative standpoint, women like shopping and gifts and surprises. Gifts don't always mean jewels spent on an item, sometimes it's an event - like a concert."

"Thanks Elfman!" Natsu hurried away as the largest Strauss shrugged and decided to find Evergreen and flirt with her.

The young dragon slayer exited the guild without talking to anyone else and immediately made his way to Belter Street.

The facade of the shop was gilded with gold leaf and the large picture windows were holding displays of cruise wear. A mellow toned bell rang when Natsu opened the store door and perused the upmarket merchandise. An attractive older woman stepped from behind a counter and spoke graciously, "May I help you young man?"

Feeling a bit self-conscious, Natsu nodded and then cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm here to purchase some gifts for my girlfriend."

"How very nice, young sir!" The saleslady smiled widely dreaming of her commission. "What did you have in mind?"

Blushing a little, Natsu shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Ah, first an outfit appropriate to attend a picnic and three dozen of your finest undergarments."

"Does sir know his lady's sizes?" Natsu nodded and shrugged at the same time. "Would sir care to elaborate? What size?"

"Uh, more like I can tell if it'll fit when I see the clothes. She's pretty curvy and stacked. Does that help?"

The saleswoman's smile dimmed a little, but she gritted her teeth and gamely struggled on. "Excellent! Let me direct you to a few of our more darling clothing lines. Have a bit of a browse and I'll bring a selection of undergarments." The older woman pointed to a dress rack near the middle of the shop and then moved over to the back corner where the lingerie was located. Working quickly, she collected one of each style in various colours and walked back to her customer. Draping the underwear on top of a display of sweaters, she beckoned Natsu over to decide on his purchase.

With a practiced eye, Natsu checked the workmanship of the panties, sizing and styles. He sorted his preferences and picked out the desired three dozen pairs in a rainbow of colours. "I would like these delivered to my girlfriend in Strawberry Street within the hour. As well, the outfit I have yet to pick out - I would like that delivered closer to 4:30 pm."

"Very good sir! We have a contract with a delivery service and it will be no problem at all to send those out. Now, over here we have some lovely dresses." Natsu allowed the saleswoman to show him dress after dress, but rejected each one for real or imagined flaws.

"You know, my Luce is more of a skirt and shirt girl." Natsu grinned and chuckled. "Tight and short - but I kinda have a hankering to see her in something long and flowing. Got anything like that?"

Contemplating her shop's stock, the older woman slowly nodded. "I think I know just the thing!" She rushed to the back and brought back a pretty light pink sweater with a scoop neck and silver trim and matching long, flowing skirt with silver and dark pink trim.

"I'll take it! Jewels well spent!"

"Would sir like to include notes with his purchases?" The commission earned had greatly pleased the saleswoman, and she smiled with real warmth. "You may want to buy yourself something new to compliment your girlfriend's clothes."

"Yah, great idea on both counts!" Natsu took the offered cards and pen and quickly scrawled a few lines on each. "Thank you very much!" The pink haired young man paid for his purchases and exited the shop.

Belter Street was crowded with upscale boutiques and trendy cafés. Natsu strolled down and checked out the different businesses. The delicious scent of fresh bread wafted from a particularly fancy edifice. Giant gold painted letters on the store window proclaimed 'Le Gateau Gigantique' and it displayed an amazing array of fancy cakes and treats. It was packed with patrons. Along the back of the store, the fresh bread was stacked from floor to ceiling. Tiny tables occupied with well dressed couples were scattered along the patio either side of the front door, matching the larger tables inside the bakeshop also filled to capacity with customers.

_**I should take Lucy here for dessert, it smells almost as good as she does.**_ Pleased with the notion, Natsu turned and decided to hunt for a men's clothing shop. Overwhelmed with choices, he picked one at random and spent close to half an hour being kitted out by a very trendily dressed salesman. He departed with light gray khakis, a pale barely pink dress shirt and coordinating t-shirt neatly folded in a sturdy paper carrier bag. _**She better be pleased with all my efforts - dating is hard work. And this is just the preparation!**_

Swinging his purchase to and fro, Natsu walked past 'Le Gateau Gigantique' once more and spotted his nakama crowded around a table inside, conversing in low intent tones over a scattering of dessert items.

Opening the door, he strode in and greeted his friends, "Hey guys! What are you doing here?"

Gray was the first to speak to him, "What does it look like fire-freak? We're having a pool party." Gajeel snorted as Erza smacked Gray upside the back of his head and then winced as she caught him in the down blow. Juvia barely glanced up from the napkins she was furiously writing on.

Erza cleared her throat and waved him beside her. "Grab a chair and help me grade their cakes. I need to know if this place is worthy of further patronage."

"Uh, I don't really have time for that right now, Erza." Natsu grinned in apology. "I just got back from a mission last night and I have some stuff to take care of at home."

Gray elbowed Gajeel and snickered. "What's in the bag, Natsu?"

"Just new clothes Ice Princess. You should try wearing some."

"Oi Salamander, you trying to impress someone?" Gajeel sat back in his chair and surreptitiously edged his fingers closer to the utensils in front of Erza. He leaned back even farther and threw a sardonic look at the fire mage. "I don't think you'd be able to even impress Bunny Girl."

"Lucy doesn't care what Natsu looks like!" Gray laughed in agreement. Neither of the two men paid attention to Erza who was slowly building her fury.

The pink haired mage glared the clothes deficient magic user. "How do you manage to keep your coat and lose the shirt underneath?"

"Shit! That was my favourite shirt!" Gray shrugged and added, "I still dress better than you, you flame-y lizard!"

Irate, Erza stood up and smacked Gajeel's hand just as he tried to steal her silverware. "I cannot enjoy my cake with all this bickering." Turning to address Gajeel, "I told you if you ate more of the utensils, I would sharpen all of my swords on your hide. Do. Not. Test. Me."

Vaguely troubled by the violence promised in the scarlet haired woman's face, Natsu backed away slowly. "See you guys later!" He left and was soon out of sight.

Erza sat back down and calmly finished her piece of cake, writing down her notes on it's taste and texture. "Next time we will try the ice cream shop in Gray's neighbourhood." Meekly the rest of the group nodded.

Juvia jotted down one last point and signed her name with a flourish. She realized she was humming to herself and the rest of the table was dead silent. "What did Juvia miss?"


	17. Chapter 17:Check your Bets

Lucy found herself humming as she soaked in her tub. _**Mmmm...feels so good to relax. But where is Natsu going to take me on our date? What should I wear? Hair up? Down? Arrrrggghhh! At this rate, I'm going to need another 'relaxing' bath. **_Sourly she grimaced and pulled the drain plug. She towelled off while the water swirled away. In front of her mirror, she brushed her hair and contemplated which of her outfits she should try on. _**Who am I kidding? I'm going to try them all on!**_

In her bedroom, Lucy quickly pulled her hair into a simple ponytail and pulled on a plain tank top and shorts. She rifled through her closet searching for inspiration. _**Boring, hideous, bleah...I should have gone shopping...too late now. At least I can change my hair.**_ Tossing a few choices on her bed, the blonde fished out Cancer's key from her belt and summoned him.

"Ebi, how can I help you?"

Lucy smiled and pouted cutely. "I have a very important date tonight, I could use one of your fabulous haircuts and styling."

Within fifteen minutes, Cancer had fixed his master's hair and been dismissed with thanks. _**Okay...now what to do?**_ The blonde dove back into her closet to pick out some footwear. _**Ugly, old, what was I thinking? I need new shoes!**_ Agitated, Lucy decided to work on the bedtime story and lose herself in the words.

Chewing on the end of a pencil, lost in thought, Lucy heard knocking at her front door. Her heart rate sped up and she wildly looked around for the time. _**Ah, can't be Natsu just yet, it's not even 4:30...4:30 almost? Shit I need to get dressed! Thank goodness the person at the door knocked...**_ Lucy scrambled up from her chair to answer the door.

"Hello?" Lucy opened the door half-way.

"Yes, I have a delivery for a Miss Lucy, is this her?" The young man with a parcel held out his clip board. "Can you sign right here?" Lucy scribbled her signature, feeling a sense of déjà vu. "Thank you and enjoy your package." _**What the hell is going on?**_

The blonde carried the box into her apartment and pulled the ribbon off and discarded it on the dining table. Slowly she eased the lid up and off. A stunning pink sweater and matching long skirt were nestled in a copious amount of tissue. A card scrawled with Natsu's bold printing said simply: **Lucy - for you Love, Natsu.**

A niggling sense of agitation travelled up her spine_**. Well, now I know what to wear tonight...this is getting to be too much! Flowers, silk panties, a new outfit...who's been teaching him all these romantic gestures? **_ Humming tunelessly, Lucy picked up the clothes and went to her bedroom to don her new outfit and found simple sandals to complete her ensemble.

Restless, she sat back down at her writing desk and tried immersing herself back into her story. Irate with her lack of concentration she threw down her pencil just as another knock at her door sounded. Pushing down on her misgivings, Lucy decided to not over think the sudden influx of gifts. Settling a big smile on her face, she trotted over to answer the door.

As expected, Natsu was on the other side of the entrance. He was resplendent in light gray khakis and a barely pink dress shirt, co-ordinating t-shirt and wearing his ever-present dragon scale scarf. Even before Lucy could welcome him, he burst out with, "You look beautiful Lucy!"

She blushed and smiled more naturally. "Thanks, you look good too!" _**He's gone all out, new clothes for him too!**_ "What's that behind you?"

"It's our picnic! I got Mira to pack this for us - she said we'd love it." Natsu grinned, "Shall we go?"

Easing up a little, Lucy giggled. "Yes, let's - where are we going?"

"You'll find out when we get there." The dragon slayer picked up the picnic basket after Lucy locked her door and offered her his free arm. Blushing, the blonde twined her arm in his. "Are you ready for some fun, Luce?"

Natsu and Lucy walked down Strawberry Street, quietly enjoying their companionship. Lucy at first clutched her boyfriend's arm very tightly and then relaxed her grip as she became self-conscious. _**Relax! You've been friends with Natsu for what seems like forever. No one is staring - settle down. Remember what he said before - we'll deal with our nakama together.**_ Letting out a soft sigh, the blonde slid her arm partially out of his and slipped her hand into his grasp. He looked over at her and grinned widely with the tips of his fangs showing.

"About time you loosened up! Why are you nervous?" Natsu chuckled. "You're acting like you've never been on a date."

"Actually, I figured you wouldn't have had much experience with dating, and you're surprising me." Lucy admitted with a wry twist of her lips. "Even if you had to get hints from the guild on where to go and what to do..."

"Hey! Asking Mira for help wasn't like I was telling the whole guild you know! She's the one who sent us to the Love Spring knowing all about the magic it has. You said you'd try to worry less about what others think and more about what I feel."

"So what you're telling me is that Mira knows we're on a date tonight?" Lucy tugged Natsu's hand and led him over to a bench. "Sit. We need to discuss this right now."

* * *

Inside the guild of Fairy Tail, Mira was gossiping with her sister when Levy strolled inside and requested to see the tally sheet for the betting pool on Natsu and Lucy dating. "Levy, did you want to wager some more jewels?" Mira asked and giggled. "I think this bet is closed, we had confirmation this morning."

The solid script mage looked confused. "I talked to Lucy this afternoon - actually, maybe it was closer to late morning. What confirmation are you talking about?"

Mira smiled angelically. "I know for a fact Natsu and Lucy are going on a picnic date tonight. In fact, he picked up a basket of food not more than fifteen minutes ago!"

Levy coughed and stuttered, "Th-th-there's so many jewels to be won..."

"What shorty is sayin' is we need to see who's won the jackpot." Gajeel slouched on his barstool, hitching a lazy foot onto the bar rail. "Some of my bets were about their first date and some were for when they did the deed." He grinned at Levy as she blushed and stared down at her feet.

"Deeds of daring-do?" Erza stalked into the guild and made a bee-line towards Levy. "You missed some delicious cake at the new bakery. We even ran into Natsu - that reminds me, what dates did I pick for the wagering?" She directed this question to Mira who was opening the thick gambling ledger.

Mira ran her finger down several rows and columns. "Hmmm. There's a lot of specific bets written down from first kiss to birthday of first child. Well, right now would be first date, and let's see..." The white haired bar maid scanned the massive amount of information. "Levy, do you have your speed reading glasses on you? I'm afraid there is simply too much for me to sift through without help."

Elfman wandered over and nudged Gajeel. "Is this about Natsu finally becoming a man? I had to give him the benefit of my years of experience this morning - It's a man!"

"Uh, sure." The petite girl dug around in her satchel and handed them over to Mira. Levy shifted her weight from foot to foot as the crowd around the bar grew.

The front doors bounded open as Gray forcefully pushed his way in. "Hey! That's the wager book, isn't it? What dates do I have for Natsu and Lucy gettin' it on?"

Juvia hurried after Gray holding a pair of socks and an undershirt. "Gray-sama! Juvia has collected thirty more points in your scavenger hunt game!"

The Ice mage turned and looked blankly at Juvia who stood close behind, clutching Gray's discarded clothes. "What scavenger hunt? I'm checking to see if I'm going to win a shit-tonne of jewels - much like everyone else in the guild it looks like!"

The crowd around the betting book grew to include most of the guild members, all trying to shout their requests and peer at the entries. Levy watched as Wakaba and Macao started a shoving match, arguing over who would win the most jewels.

After the diminutive blue haired mage was nearly trampled, she sidled over to Gajeel and hid behind him, clutching the fabric of his coat over his hips. "Gajeel, can you help me with something?"

"What sort of something, shrimp?" The Iron Dragon slayer plucked her tiny hands from his clothes and hoisted her over his shoulder.

Levy felt her heart leap into her mouth over the sudden lift. She was so shocked she allowed Gajeel to spirit her out of the building. Out behind the guild Levy unfroze and pinched his ear savagely. "Let me down! I'm not a sack of potatoes!"

"Gi hehe, I know that! It was getting too rough in there for you." Gajeel allowed Levy to slide down his torso and settled her back on her feet, keeping his hands on her hips two heart beats too long. He lightly flushed as she gave him a scowl. "What do ya want help with?"

"I need to find Lucy and tell her everybody knows! I thought Erza would swear you guys to secrecy, but you've all shown up to check your bets!"

"Don't get too hoity-toity little missy. You were checking yours too."

* * *

Leaving the basket at his feet, Natsu perched on the edge of the seat and turned to face his mate. "I know what you're going to say, but it's all right. I didn't give her any details and all she knows is we're going on a picnic." He patted her hand reassuringly.

The Celestial mage's hand tightened into a fist. "All she knows is we're out tonight and she could be spying on us right now!"

"Well, I guess Lissana could be with her too."

"You're not making me feel any better!"


	18. Chapter 18: One Step back, Two Forward

"So what if our nakama know we're on a date? Every person walking down this street who sees us together can piece together that we're on a date." Natsu held onto Lucy's hands and gazed intently into her eyes. "Is that what is really bothering you?"

Lucy lowered her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. "Um...er...ah...I may have accidentally shouted out of my bedroom window that you gave me a love letter. I might be transferring my anger at myself onto you. And by might, I'm pretty sure I totally am. I'm also a bit weirded out by your thoughtful gifts; the flower bouquet from last night, this outfit I'm wearing, the underwear, the love letter, the notes with the gifts. Is the magic from the Love spring still affecting us? Is this date us or the work of magic?"

Softly squeezing her hands, Natsu tilted his head slightly and gave Lucy a lop-sided smile. "It's a special kind of magic we make together, Luce. If you must know, I did receive some help and inspiration for our date." He gave a half shrug and held tight to her hands when she reflexively tried to pull away. "You might be a little mad at what I did, but it was all for research."

"You're not making me feel better Natsu!" Lucy glared and seethed with anxiety. "Who helped you? What did you do?"

"Yah, maybe not my brightest idea, but at the time it seemed the thing to do! I read some of your stories for inspiration. I thought who better to tell me what you'd like, than you?" Natsu sighed. "I went overboard, didn't I?"

The blonde sat frozen on the park bench. Her expressive brown eyes welled up with tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Natsu dropped her hands and captured her face with his callused fingertips. Slowly, tentatively he brought his slightly parted lips to hers and softly kissed his mate. Her hands unbidden came to rest on his shoulders and then slid over his back to hug him tightly.

Drawing back, Lucy blinked rapidly and used the back of one hand to knuckle away traces of moisture. "You're something else Natsu." Her voice trembled and remained breathy as Natsu continued to stroke her cheek and tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I've been over-reacting to everything. Worried about our nakama finding out, worrying about the magic of the love spring, and foolish worries over who inspired you to such romantic gestures."

"I don't know about foolish, but you might be a bit of a weirdo." Natsu widely grinned and gently brushed his forehead against hers. "But you're my weirdo, even if you give me a hundred rainbow coloured bruises."

"Oh!" Lucy gasped. "Rainbow bruises! I was so preoccupied with keeping us a secret, I didn't share with you the last thing I learned about the Love Spring." She shifted closer to Natsu on the bench and snuggled into his embrace. "Caleb told me basically that couples who experience the love spring - their love bites express as rainbow bruises. When you're ready to accept the other person they're visible to each other as a rainbow coloured mark, not just purple. He said it's easier for the people on the outside to see that you're a couple than for the people involved to see out and realize that fact."

"So how would you like to hunt for some rainbow bruises on my body, Luce?" There was a rough and forceful quality to Natsu's voice - a certain rumble that sent tingles down Lucy's spine and shivers across her skin.

"You've gone to such trouble to arrange a picnic..." Lucy's words trailed off as her partner gave her a seductive low-lidded gaze, showing the adoration and pleasure shining from his onyx eyes.

Lucy's heart stuttered and raced. The heat pooling in her belly flared as she stared at Natsu, her mate and lover. "Let's go back to my apartment." She wetted her lips with the tip of her tongue and deeply kissed the pink haired boy.

* * *

"Gajeel, I really, really want to warn Lucy that everybody knows they're dating." Levy wrung her hands and paced nervously. "She swore me to secrecy and logically, she's going to blame me! I didn't tell her our little group overheard her screaming. As far as she knows, I'm the only one who was there!" The diminutive girl raised her eyes beseechingly to Gajeel's red wine dark gaze.

"Gi he, what can I do about it?" The Iron Dragon slayer stood there with his arms crossed and a faint sneer on his face. "Shrimp, the best thing to do is leave it alone." He leaned up against the exterior wall of the guild and stared at Levy.

"I can't! I just can't! Lucy is my best friend and I was trusted and I let her down." Levy accompanied these words with trembling pouty lips. "I owe it to her as her friend to be the one to tell her we all know. I need you to help me. Please!" With this last outburst, Levy grabbed Gajeel's sleeve and held on tightly.

"Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing? Let go Shorty!" Gajeel frowned and glared, but Levy stood her ground and refused to release the darkly sardonic male. "What do you think I can do to help? Not that I want to help."

Pleased with this chink in his armour, the solid script mage impulsively launched herself at his chest. Reflexively he caught her up in his strongly muscled arms. "If you use your dragon slayer nose to find them now, I can talk to Lucy before things get wildly out of hand!"

"For someone so tiny and smart, that's a big stupid idea." The tall male glared down at the blue haired female. "Tell ya what, I'll help you, but only for a favour. Are you sure you want to go into my debt?"

Levy smiled in relief. "I doubt there's anything you can ask of me that would be too arduous Gajeel." She wriggled in his grasp and he set her back down on her feet, instantly missing the feel of supple Levy flesh in his arms.

Gajeel was surprised when Levy reached out to him again and seized his hand and started to drag him down the alley and toward the center of Magnolia. Levy stole sideways glimpses of Gajeel's strong features. Her heart pounded with excitement - over the darkly handsome and enigmatic dragon slayer, or the quest to find Lucy and Natsu? She wasn't sure and didn't much care.

"Shrimp, if you really want to find them, perhaps you should allow me to lead." Gajeel planted his feet and turned his head left and right, inhaling the various scent paths.

"Oh, right!" Levy squeaked, blushing madly. The feel of his fingers, so rough and warm in comparison to his usually cold and stoic attitude had driven most of her logical thoughts from her head. "I was just thinking that there's only so many suitable picnic areas in Magnolia and I find that I prefer the pastoral areas and most of them are..." Levy's words sped together as her embarrassment ratcheted up another notch and she became aware he was unconsciously brushing his thumb over her knuckles in a slow caress.

Flustered, she stared down at her feet. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Keeping her head bent, she concentrated on the pavement under her feet. Gradually, she became aware she could see her feet and another set of toes facing her in the narrow circle of vision she was allowing herself. A large huff of air escaped from her lips as she craned her head up and up to see Gajeel studying her keenly.

"You've got some good instincts Shorty. Gi hehe!" The tall dragon slayer inched closer and Levy gulped nervously. "I can almost taste their scent trail. What ever it is they're doing is releasing a disgusting amount of pheromones. We keep going this way toward the park with Sakura trees." He gestured with an outthrust thumb and jerked his head in the direction Levy had chosen.

He stalked off ahead of the petite girl, purposefully shortening his stride to allow her to keep pace. Ten minutes of walking brought them to three streets over from the park. Gajeel suddenly stopped and Levy barrelled into his backside. "Quiet," he ordered. "They're sitting on a bench sucking face. Don't rush up right now or Bunny girl will freak out."

Levy peered out from behind Gajeel. She squinted to see the aforementioned bench with a couple enthusiastically kissing, one blonde and the other with pink spiky hair. "What should I do?" The solid script mage shifted her weight from foot to foot and grabbed hold of Gajeel's jacket from behind him and buried her head against his back.

"What the hell! Don't wrinkle the threads Tiny!" Awkwardly, Gajeel turned and twisted around to detach Levy from his back and could only sigh and shake his head as she now flattened her face against his chest. "You don't have a plan do you? Did you think that the Salamander would be somewhere else on their date and you could just waltz up to Bunny girl and have a friendly chat?"

In a despondent voice, Levy mumbled, "I didn't think that far ahead." Gajeel chuckled harshly, the rumble from his chest setting off explosions in Levy's nerves. Slapping an open flat palm against the thickly muscular chest of the Iron dragon slayer, Levy glared up at Gajeel. Her eyes narrowed and her brows beetled as she thought furiously. A sudden smile blossomed as she decided upon a course of action.

"I don't think I like that look in your eyes, Shrimp."

"Well, you're here now, and you're going to help me." Defiantly, Levy grabbed the lapels of his shirt and attempted to shake Gajeel. Ignoring the total fail that move was, she straightened her posture and hissed as threateningly as she could. "We are going to stroll past them like we are out on a date and engage them in conversation. You will draw Natsu away and I will deal with Lucy. Savvy? Understand? Comprehend?" The last three words were accompanied with forceful stabs of her index finger against his breast bone.

Outwardly, Gajeel's face was like granite - static and neutral. Inwardly he was feeling rather pleased with the current turn of events. _**Gi hehe! Panther-Lily was right! I just have to cross paths with Levy and good things will happen.**_ "Gah, I hear you! It looks like they're gonna break for air - let's get this train wreck over with." He took a step forward; not hearing Levy move, he turned and extended his giant paw of a hand to her. "It's not much of a 'date' if we don't hold hands Shrimp."

Not deigning to respond verbally, she placed her delicate hand in his palm. Levy blanked her face and then schooled a polite expression on her face. With no small amount of trepidation, Levy started walking intently towards her targets. Gajeel used his superior strength to pull her back. "Hey, Tiny! A dating couple would casually stroll and at least look like they were having fun. Put a smile on yer face!"

"Well, then you should too! Are you able?" Levy fought against smiling, but the odd situation she found herself in was confusing and worthy of laughing about. Her smile broke into giggles and infected Gajeel's spirits so that he smirked and that action gave Levy's stomach butterflies. Intent on each other, they nearly walked into the picnic basket sitting ignored at Natsu's feet.

"Oh! Hi guys! Funny running into you..." Levy giggled and audibly gulped at the naked yearning visible between Lucy and Natsu.

Lucy smiled and rose gracefully up from the bench. Addressing Levy, she gestured to the picnic basket. "Why don't you and Gajeel enjoy this portable feast. We," at this she pointed to Natsu, "are going back to my apartment to finish our date. I don't care who knows, we're meant to be together and don't need to hide anything."

Natsu bounced up from his seat and reached for Lucy's hand. "I'm all fired up!" Linking fingers, they raced off without another word to the flabbergasted Levy and Gajeel.

"I did tell you this was a stupid idea, didn't I Shrimp?"

"Shut up and pick up the picnic basket. We're gonna enjoy the hell out of some free food." Levy stomped her feet and crossed her arms, glaring at the Iron dragon slayer.

Gajeel smirked and docilely lifted the basket. _**Mira packed this, and if I know Mira like I think I do, I'm going to end up cooking breakfast for two. Gi hehe he!**_


	19. Chapter 19:Be as One

_**Whoop! Whoop! IMPLIED Lemon alert! Whoop! Danger! *flashing lights***_

**Beware the lemon! It is a mighty adult sight, not fit for those under the age of consent and t'would sore distress the author should any minor witness such things. Be alert, don't get hurt. This is the song of the lemon alert.**

Hand in hand, Lucy and Natsu raced back towards Strawberry Street and the haven of Lucy's apartment. Shrieking with laughter, the two mages came to a panting stop below the blonde's bedroom window. With a questioning look, Natsu inclined his head at his usual entrance. "Whaddaya say, Luce?"

She shrugged and smirked and then gasped as Natsu swooped her up into his arms and used his magic to leap and boost them up to the window. Pushing open the glass was the work of a second and then they spilled into her bedroom.

"I'm hungry Lucy! Why'd you give away the picnic basket?" Natsu accompanied these words with tender nips to his mate's neck. He anchored his fingers into her hair and languidly licked the side of her neck from the base of her throat to behind her ear. She shivered and moaned. Prickles of electricity danced down her spine. Lucy gasped as Natsu's warm tongue invaded her ear and explored. She clamped her thighs shut tight as strong ripples pulsed low in her belly.

"Ahhh...Natsu..." Lucy could feel her panties dampening and knew as she listened to Natsu inhale deeply, he could smell her obvious arousal. The Celestial mage pushed feebly at the solid muscle wall of Natsu's chest. He gave her ear another swipe of his tongue and stepped back. Lucy smiled and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "I have a very hard time thinking when I'm in your arms. Why don't I do something to take your mind off your stomach?"

"Or you could let me do something..." Natsu let his words trail off as he moved to circle behind his mate and enfolded her in his arms. Putting his lips to her ear, he whispered. "I'm ready to claim you."

Lucy leaned back against her hot dragon-boy; the heat Natsu was emitting ratcheted her desire higher and higher. His fingertips lightly ghosted up her arms from wrists to elbows, then detoured to the hem of her sweater. Slowly his hands inched under and caressed the satiny soft skin of her ribcage. Grinding her backside into his groin, Lucy could feel the hard ridge of his interest and she moaned. "I want you to claim me."

"We'll be as one, Luce." He traced random patterns over her abdomen and then palmed and rubbed each heavy breast. "Let me undress you." Natsu felt more than saw Lucy nod in agreement and he chuckled. "Weirdo, turn around so I can enjoy more of the show."

She complied with a giggle and draped her arms around his neck. "Mmmm..." Lucy tilted her head slightly and dreamily kissed Natsu, diving her tongue into the warm cavern of his mouth. His hands anchored her hips to his as he allowed her to suck on his tongue. Breathing heavily, Natsu slipped his hands under her sweater and skimmed it up and over Lucy's head to fling it into a corner of her bedroom. "Let me take off your shirt Natsu." Working quickly, she unbuttoned the dress shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. He shrugged and allowed it to drop unheeded. Lucy ran her palm down his muscled abdomen and gripped the bottom of his t-shirt to pull it up and off, flinging it to another corner of the bedroom.

Reading his onyx eyes; Lucy stood still and trembled, waiting for him to make the next move. A gentle caress from his hand on her neck made the tiny hairs on her arms stand up. He slipped her bra straps down and trailed his tongue over the tops of her breasts. Fingers fumbling, he unhooked the brassiere and tossed it away. Reverently, Natsu kissed each breast in turn. He unbuttoned her skirt and pulled the zip open, allowing the article of clothing to flutter down unheeded. Natsu placed his hands on Lucy's buttocks and gently squeezed.

Lucy's hands sped to Natsu's belt, unfastening it and attacking the closure of his khakis in short order. Boldly she thrust both pants and boxers down over his hips. "I've been patient enough! Time for you to put out!"

Natsu backed up slightly and finished removing his trousers after toeing off his shoes and socks. He took off his scarf and dropped it on her dresser; stalking back to Lucy, gloriously naked. "Time for me to apply some panty remover."

"No fair using your hands!" Lucy tittered and stood with her arms crossed under her breasts and her legs slightly spread apart. Each giggle bounced her chest and Lucy found it amusing how Natsu's eyes tracked her movements.

"I don't need hands until after I remove those panties, Luce." Swiftly he dropped to his knees and nuzzled the center of her desire, her scent intoxicating Natsu. "You smell delicious." His hands he ran down the inside of her thighs and across her kneecaps then rubbed up and down her calves. Bringing them back to her knees, he teased the delicate skin on the back of the joint.

"Fuck! Strip me already!" He turned his head and easily hooked a fang on the fabric over her hip and pulled it down past her knees and allowed it to drop.

"I was really tempted to burn those off of you."

"You're lucky you didn't."

Standing back upright, Natsu looked deep into Lucy's eyes and traced her lips with one finger. Parting her lips she breathed heavily. Leisurely, he brought his face closer to making contact.

Lucy started edging toward the bed, taking small half-steps. Natsu pursued and upon reaching the soft surface, pushed Lucy gently down on the bed and followed after. His heavy weight was foreign and yet welcome. Laying on her back, she snaked her arms around his back and glided her fingers over the brawny breadth of his shoulders. Natsu was fast approaching sensory overload, his mate's delicious scent destroying his control. The blonde let out a mewl of need and arched up with her hips, mindlessly wanting more.

Primal forces were guiding the dragon slayer. A sharp shriek clawed from Lucy's throat as they joined flesh and soul. Natsu held still an agonizing minute then continued moving as Lucy relaxed.

Natsu could feel his magic simmering just below his skin, urging him to unleash a conflagration of fiery passion.

"Ahhh...ahh...Natsu!"

"Dammmn! Luce!"

Lucy urged her lover on with moans and nonsensical sounds of pleasure. She gripped his biceps tightly and thrashed her head from side to side. "Nnngh...ah..." The biting pain of the invasion of her body was over and pleasure rippled outwards in a fire-warm wave from low in her belly. "I'm so close! More..."

Her lover grinned. "Hold on, I wanna try something." With no further warning, Natsu rolled the both of them over. Lucy pushed up and sat down, riding at a slower pace, feeling a deeper penetration.

Close to exhaustion the tide of ecstasy was rising and swallowing reason, leaving only pure feeling behind. Screaming her pleasure; Lucy felt crashing waves of joy through her entire body. Lucy's finale spurred Natsu on to his.

They lay limbs entangled in a sweaty pile, Natsu tenderly kissing Lucy's temple and stroking her back. Their chests heaving and gradually slowing and calming. The celestial mage's large brown eyes locked onto the dragon slayer's onyx orbs and they stared wordless at each other for a brief eternity.

"Okay, now I kinda regret giving away the picnic basket, Natsu."

"Don't worry Luce, I'm good to go a few more times before I need to refuel."


	20. Chapter 20: Bet Concluded

Sometime after their third passionate encounter, Lucy stumbled into the kitchen and scrounged around for nourishment. Piling assorted foodstuffs on a tray, she hurried back to her bedroom.

"Luce! After this snack, let's bathe and depending what time it is after I satisfy some more curiosity, I'll take you out for breakfast or lunch!" Natsu was sitting up in bed with the covers bunched low around his lap, grinning his wide fang tipped smile - but now with a wicked glint in his eyes. "We're gonna need to shower again after too."

"Natsu! I'm getting exhausted, not to mention sore. Can we just get some sleep? I'll read you your story!" Lucy smiled prettily and pouted. "I think you'll really like it..."

"That's what she said!" Natsu laughed. "Okay, seriously now, that's a sensible course of action. Let's share this food and you can pay off our bet." He grabbed an apple off of the tray and started eating. Smiling in relief, Lucy snagged the other apple and consumed it in short order. Before very long, the assortment of crackers, fruit and cheese had been eaten. "You gotta tuck me in and give me a night-night kiss after the story is done. Well, maybe one before and one after. I'm feeling generous."

"Yah, no problem Natsu. Give me a second to fetch my hand written copy of your wonderful Dragon Bedtime Story." Lucy giggled and sauntered over to her bureau, where oddly enough she had stored both the love letter her mate had written her and the story that would clear her obligation of the bet. Opening the top drawer, she rummaged amongst the panties and pulled out the pages inscribed with the story.

Turning on the bedside lamp, Lucy set down the papers and leaned over Natsu's now prone figure. Carefully she pulled the covers up and tucked him securely into bed. He grinned and looked expectantly into her eyes. Perching on the side of the bed, Lucy crossed her legs and inhaled deeply. She smiled when Natsu's eyes almost fell into the cleavage revealed by the last nighty she owned that had not been destroyed by his lust.

"This is a story I wrote for a very dear friend and lover," Lucy intoned. "We started out as nakama and grew beyond anything I ever expected. I honestly love him more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow. He's a bit of a baka, but lovable all the same. He's driven me insane from stupidity and more recently from lust. He's a hot head and a hot dragon-boy. He's sweet and honest to a fault, a fault most people would strangle him for - but I digress." Lucy smiled with saccharine sweetness at her mate, ruffling his hair with the hand not occupied carrying the story. "This story is entitled 'Once upon a Dragon' and dedicated to Natsu Dragneel."

In a soft and soothing voice Lucy read the words she had penned earlier:

**Once upon a time, a large, strong, handsome and pink dragon lived alone in the Enchanted Forest of Fiore. He practiced his fire-breathing every morning, noon and night. He exercised his wings, flying swiftly above the clouds and swimming in the water. The dragon ate lots of fish and animals. He had to forage far and wide because he'd eaten so many of the forest creatures, they were scarce. The dragon was proud of his pink scales which shined in the sun and dazzled his own black eyes.**

**He lived alone for a long time. A few of the braver and stronger forest denizens wanted to befriend the dragon, but every time they approached the dragon with friendship, the dragon would challenge them to a fight. The bravest and largest of the forest creatures was an especially smart mountain lion. The mountain lion's name was Happy. His parents didn't have that much of an imagination, he was born smiling away like a loon, so the name stuck.**

Natsu turned to look at Lucy and growled slightly. "You know I'm waiting for my pre-story kiss I still haven't gotten. I have needs, you know." Sighing Lucy nodded and pecked Natsu on the lips. Well, he wasn't pleased with such a lack lustre performance, so he captured Lucy's face with both hands and frenched her silly.

Fifteen minutes later Lucy was down another nighty and forced to don a sleep shirt. "Hey, let's try to keep it clean. You settle down and I will read you some more awesome story."

"I do not regret indulging my curiosity as to the taste of your nether regions, and I believe neither do you, Luce-my-mate." Blushing, Lucy shuffled the loose papers of the story and cleared her throat in preparation to read more of her superlative work of fiction.

**Happy didn't have that many friends either. He studied the dragon's habits and followed him around. It was pretty advantageous for the mountain lion to do so because the dragon would leave his leftovers unattended and Happy was able to chow down frequently without having to work for it. After months of skulking around, Happy decided to introduce himself to the dragon.**

**"Hello there Dragon! I'm Happy!"**

**In a large, powerful, growly voice, the dragon shouted, "I don't care if you're sad and blue! You wanna fight?"**

**"No, I wanna be your friend!"**

**"Well, I wanna fight!" The large, strong, handsome pink dragon launched himself into the air and flew straight up and then swooped down on the mountain lion. He bellowed a challenging roar and ripped his talons through the tree branches protecting the lion.**

**Happy growled back at the dragon. The lion climbed into the top of the tree and as the dragon was making another pass, Happy jumped onto the back of the dragon. "Let's make a bet, dragon! I bet I can stay on your back as long as I want!"**

**"Get off of me, damned overgrown cat! I bet I can shake you off!" The dragon flew a loop-de-loop but was unable to shake off the pestilent mountain lion. Next, the dragon rolled over and over but had to stop because he was getting motion sickness. The dragon decided to dive through water next, but Happy just laughed, because he loved warm baths. The dragon was getting so frustrated, he was leaking extra heat, which had warmed up the water.**

**Tired, the dragon slowed down and Happy leapt off. "I wanna be your friend! I bet I can jump back onto your back whenever I want to and then you have to be ****my**** friend!" Happy climbed back into the tree and watched the dragon kick some tree trunks in a manner befitting a two year old having a tantrum.**

"Hey, Lucy! I'm not a two year old! I don't have immature fits like that at all!"

"Yah, yah, totally Natsu. You're always on an even emotional keel and would never and I mean, never act in such a manner. You always want to talk everything to death and find fighting the first refuge of the incompetent." At this statement Lucy laughed and threw her head back, fairly cackling with glee. "God I wish I had fifty jewels for every time you'd said this, or for every time I imagined this. Yah, maybe 200 jewels, because I need my rent paid."

"Keep going!" Natsu snapped, but in a kindly way. Lucy could tell he wasn't mad, simply reacting to the tone of her voice.

**"Haha, ha! Are you going to accept my bet? Hey dragon!" Happy yowled in excitement he usually reserved for eating fish. "Tell you what, I'll fight you if I can't jump onto your back, but then after the fight I have to become ****your**** friend!"**

**At this statement, the dragon perked up and grinned a wide, fang tipped smile. "I accept! I'm all fired up!" The strong, handsome pink dragon launched himself back into the sky, going straight up and up and up to dive bomb down as fast as he could around the tree that the mountain lion was crouching in. The dragon inhaled a large belly-full of air and opened his maw as wide as he could and spewed flames all over the tree, burning it to a cinder.**

**The dragon landed and inspected the charred remains of the tree. "Haha, ha! Showed you who's the boss of this forest, didn't I?" The dragon sat there preening, buffing his talons and admiring his shiny pink scales. (He was an extremely vain dragon.) He was so lost in his admiration of himself, he didn't notice Happy jumping from another tree onto his back.**

"Hey, that reminds me Luce! I wanna get up behind you Dragon Force Style!" Natsu smiled angelically and Lucy just didn't have the heart to smack him down or pee on his parade in any manner - that probably would have awakened another deviant desire anyhow.

"Natsu, there isn't too much more to read, okay? Shhhh!" Taking a deep breath to clear her mind, Lucy continued with the epic of 'Once Upon a Dragon'.

**The sudden shock of the mountain lion's claws attaching themselves to his back made the pink dragon spray another gout of flame onto a nearby stand of resinous pine trees. They caught fire easily and spread rapidly.**

**"I win! I win!" roared Happy. "Damn, my new friend! You trying to burn us out of the forest? Hurry and blow the fire out!"**

**"Okay, okay!" With another large inhale, the dragon exhaled a veritable gale-force blast of wind that ripped the pine needles off of a dozen trees and killed the fire consuming the trees. "That actually worked! I guess it won't be too bad to be your friend!"**

**"Of course not! I'm the largest and bravest of the forest creatures that you haven't eaten in the Enchanted Forest. Now that we're friends, what's your name dragon? I'm Happy!"**

**"I still don't care how you feel! But I never tell anyone my name. Never, ever because it's not a manly dragon name at all." The dragon pouted and kicked another tree trunk.**

"What is with your fascination with personifying me as a two year old?" Natsu complained. "I am plenty mature. Didn't we just play hide the dragon-in-the-cave? Like not even ten minutes ago?"

"Sorry!" Laughed Lucy. "I don't know what I was thinking earlier, before when I wrote this I and wasn't sure you had any interest in coitus. My bad, I should have known you were a sex fiend what with all the times you never, ever, ever, ever, ever tried to do anything sexual to me, even when I thought it was pretty apparent I'd let you get with me sideways until the end of time. Totally my bad." Lucy continued with her story.

**Happy leapt down and gave the same tree another kick. "Hey this is kinda fun! What else you wanna do?" The mountain lion decided to swipe his claws into the tree and made some awesome marks on it. The dragon thought this looked pretty fun too, so he aimed his pinky claw and slashed the tree trunk a good one.**

**Happy decided that he should just name his new friend for himself. "I'm going to call you Pinky. Your scales are pink and you just trashed that tree trunk with one pinky claw."**

**The dragon puffed out his chest, "Yeah, I totally showed that tree I am awesome."**

**So, that was the day the large, strong, handsome, and pink dragon was befriended by a large, smart mountain lion named Happy. **

**The End**

"That was so awesome Lucy! You should totally write more of these stories for our kids!" Natsu blushed. "Um, when we're ready to have kids...I want us to have kids, don't you?"

His blonde mate smiled and set down the manuscript on the bedside table as she turned off the lamp. The covers rustled as she slid into bed beside Natsu. She reached out and laid her one hand over his heart and with the other brushed his cheek with the back of her fingers. "Yes on all counts. I would love to write more of these Dragon bedtime stories, and have both of us read them to our children, when we're ready. For now, we can practice making babies."

"Hells yah! You still gotta give me the after story kiss, Luce!"

Lucy shifted in bed to raise up on one elbow and ruffled Natsu's hair back from his forehead. Leaning forward she inhaled his unique scent and pressed an adoring kiss to his brow. "Night-night."


	21. Once Upon a Dragon

Once upon a time, a large, strong, handsome and pink dragon lived alone in the Enchanted Forest of Fiore. He practiced his fire-breathing every morning, noon and night. He exercised his wings, flying swiftly above the clouds and swimming in the water. The dragon ate lots of fish and animals. He had to forage far and wide because he'd eaten so many of the forest creatures, they were scarce. The dragon was proud of his pink scales which shined in the sun and dazzled his own black eyes.

He lived alone for a long time. A few of the braver and stronger forest denizens wanted to befriend the dragon, but every time they approached the dragon with friendship, the dragon would challenge them to a fight. The bravest and largest of the forest creatures was an especially smart mountain lion. The mountain lion's name was Happy. His parents didn't have that much of an imagination, he was born smiling away like a loon, so the name stuck.

Happy didn't have that many friends either. He studied the dragon's habits and followed him around. It was pretty advantageous for the mountain lion to do so because the dragon would leave his leftovers unattended and Happy was able to chow down frequently without having to work for it. After months of skulking around, Happy decided to introduce himself to the dragon.

"Hello there Dragon! I'm Happy!"

In a large, powerful, growly voice, the dragon shouted, "I don't care if you're sad and blue! You wanna fight?"

"No, I wanna be your friend!"

"Well, I wanna fight!" The large, strong, handsome pink dragon launched himself into the air and flew straight up and then swooped down on the mountain lion. He bellowed a challenging roar and ripped his talons through the tree branches protecting the lion.

Happy growled back at the dragon. The lion climbed into the top of the tree and as the dragon was making another pass, Happy jumped onto the back of the dragon. "Let's make a bet, dragon! I bet I can stay on your back as long as I want!"

"Get off of me, damned overgrown cat! I bet I can shake you off!" The dragon flew a loop-de-loop but was unable to shake off the pestilent mountain lion. Next, the dragon rolled over and over but had to stop because he was getting motion sickness. The dragon decided to dive through water next, but Happy just laughed, because he loved warm baths. The dragon was getting so frustrated, he was leaking extra heat, which had warmed up the water.

Tired, the dragon slowed down and Happy leapt off. "I wanna be your friend! I bet I can jump back onto your back whenever I want to and then you have to be my friend!" Happy climbed back into the tree and watched the dragon kick some tree trunks in a manner befitting a two year old having a tantrum.

"Haha, ha! Are you going to accept my bet? Hey dragon!" Happy yowled in excitement he usually reserved for eating fish. "Tell you what, I'll fight you if I can't jump onto your back, but then after the fight I have to become your friend!"

At this statement, the dragon perked up and grinned a wide, fang tipped smile. "I accept! I'm all fired up!" The strong, handsome pink dragon launched himself back into the sky, going straight up and up and up to dive bomb down as fast as he could around the tree that the mountain lion was crouching in. The dragon inhaled a large belly-full of air and opened his maw as wide as he could and spewed flames all over the tree, burning it to a cinder.

The dragon landed and inspected the charred remains of the tree. "Haha, ha! Showed you who's the boss of this forest, didn't I?" The dragon sat there preening, buffing his talons and admiring his shiny pink scales. (He was an extremely vain dragon.) He was so lost in his admiration of himself, he didn't notice Happy jumping from another tree onto his back.

The sudden shock of the mountain lion's claws attaching themselves to his back made the pink dragon spray another gout of flame onto a nearby stand of resinous pine trees. They caught fire easily and spread rapidly.

"I win! I win!" roared Happy. "Damn, my new friend! You trying to burn us out of the forest? Hurry and blow the fire out!"

"Okay, okay!" With another large inhale, the dragon exhaled a veritable gale-force blast of wind that ripped the pine needles off of a dozen trees and killed the fire consuming the trees. "That actually worked! I guess it won't be too bad to be your friend!"

"Of course not! I'm the largest and bravest of the forest creatures that you haven't eaten in the Enchanted Forest. Now that we're friends, what's your name dragon? I'm Happy!"

"I still don't care how you feel! But I never tell anyone my name. Never, ever because it's not a manly dragon name at all." The dragon pouted and kicked another tree trunk.

Happy leapt down and gave the same tree another kick. "Hey this is kinda fun! What else you wanna do?" The mountain lion decided to swipe his claws into the tree and made some awesome marks on it. The dragon thought this looked pretty fun too, so he aimed his pinky claw and slashed the tree trunk a good one.

Happy decided that he should just name his new friend for himself. "I'm going to call you Pinky. Your scales are pink and you just trashed that tree trunk with one pinky claw."

The dragon puffed out his chest, "Yeah, I totally showed that tree I am awesome."

So, that was the day the large, strong, handsome, and pink dragon was befriended by a large, smart mountain lion named Happy.

The End


	22. Chapter 22: Best 2 out of 3

Lucy waved to Levy as she exited the apartment. After the short but intense visit with the three girls, it had been most relaxing just to hang out for a few additional hours with the solid script mage. Smiling, she locked the door and tidied up the living room. The sake bottle still contained just enough for one more drink; shrugging, Lucy poured it into her cup and drank. She carried the tray of picked over snacks into the kitchen, humming softly, she put away the left-over food.

"Hey Luce!" Natsu stalked out of her bedroom, wearing only boxers. "I've been waiting for close to half an hour. Come to bed!"

"Didn't I ask you to bring fuel?"

"Oh, I did! I got to thinking about you naked and I forgot to bring it out here. We can put it away together." Natsu grinned and went back into Lucy's bedroom to fetch two large market bags of food. "I really liked last night's bedtime story. I don't suppose you've got another one ready?"

Lucy smiled, "I might, it's not as polished as the first one, but I wrote it right after the first draft of the first one and mnff-"

Natsu touched his finger to her lips. "Don't worry, I already love it. You're not getting out of participating in the naked wrestling though. Best two out of three take-downs gets possession of the panties."

Lucy nodded and together they put away the groceries they both knew would be consumed after working up their appetites.

"You know, Luce, it almost feels like you cheated to win the naked wrestling matches." Natsu said slowly and contemplatively. "Every time I was close to pinning and winning, you shook your rack and I forgot what I was doing."

"Hmm, that's the only way I know how to play that game Natsu." Lucy had to work hard to feign concern. "I'm gonna give you the opportunity to win them back, double or nothing later."

Natsu laid back in bed and sighed with pleasure. "It's not really like losing anyway, so what if you pinned me and had your way with me?"

"That's the spirit Natsu!" Lucy rolled over and picked up the hand written pages off the nightstand. "The working title on this bedtime story is **'Party Dragon'**, I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will." Natsu closed his eyes and gripped Lucy around her waist burrowing his face into the soft skin of her hip.

Lucy cleared her throat and began to read:

**Pinky the dragon and his best friend Happy the mountain lion were busy decorating their corner of the Enchanted Forest of Fiore. They had party streamers of blue, pink and white all twined together strung from tree to tree. Balloons of blue, pink and white had been painstakingly blown up and tied to many trees. They had party food set out on some large flat rocks that Pinky usually used for sunbathing. They even had a guest list and invitations sent out to the other denizens of the Enchanted Forest.**

**"What a great day for a party!" Yowled Happy. "I can't wait to eat some of this awesome fish!"**

**"Yah! What an awesome day for a party!" Growled Pinky. "I can't wait to start a great fight!" The dragon shook out his delicate looking pink scaled wings and flapped them furiously. "I'm gonna win!"**

**"We gotta play nice at first, remember? You gotta be on your best behaviour!" Happy sat on his haunches and attached another cheerful balloon to a tree.**

**With a pouting expression, Pinky the dragon scooped up another balloon and began to blow warm air into it and then tie it shut. "Yah, yah. After we eat and drink, then we fight!"**

"Yah! Fighting!" Natsu murmured into Lucy's side. "Want to fight all the men who look at you, you're _my_ mate."

Ruffling his pink hair, Lucy giggled. "That's weird, but don't interrupt!"

Waking up slightly, Natsu tightened his grip on Lucy. "Not weird, can't help it if some guy challenges me - gotta protect you."

Lucy resumed reading:

**Shrugging, Happy the mountain lion kept decorating the tree with balloons. "We need to get you a girlfriend who can keep fighting off your mind."**

**Pinky the dragon gave a long perplexed look at Happy. "I like fighting. I don't wanna stop!"**

**Happy put down his next balloon, and prowled over to his best friend in the whole world who happened to be a dense dragon. "Chicks are fun and when you grow up enough, you'll wonder why you ever preferred fighting. I have a girlfriend, her name is Charle and she's beautiful."**

"Not all chicks, just you Luce."

"Oh? You talking about me being beautiful or fun?" Lucy waited for Natsu to answer.

Finally, when she was just about to pinch the reply from him, he spoke, "Both, you weirdo."

Happily, Lucy resumed the story:

**Pinky was shocked. "We're always together! I've never seen her! Is she imaginary?"**

**Happy growled low in his throat. "You don't pay attention to everything I say, do you? I told you I visit her every Monday, Wednesday and Friday! I'm gone for 4 hours at a time! How can you not notice?!"**

**Pinky sulked. "I have naps on those days. I get bored when I can't find you - so I sleep."**

**"Unbelievable!" The mountain lion yowled. "She's coming to the party and she's bringing a friend to meet you. Now I wish I had told her not to bother."**

**Pinky was busy admiring his shiny black talons and didn't notice Happy's last statement. Instead he turned away and walked to the pool of water to gaze at his reflection.**

This time when Natsu interjected that he wasn't vain, Lucy kept reading over his protestations.

**Happy shrugged and gave up trying to make Pinky pay attention. He knew it was a losing battle. Instead, he finished putting up the decorations and cleaned himself.**

**When the Enchanted Forest of Fiore began to quiet down, signalling the beginning of the evening; many forest creatures, large and small, short and tall, shy and brazen, young and old began arriving for the party.**

**Happy was a gracious host, greeting every creature like a long lost relative and making them feel welcome. Pinky was rambunctious, but trying hard to behave. Everyone was having a good time, mingling and eating the delicious party food when Charle arrived without her guest.**

**Charle was a pure white mountain lion with the prettiest green eyes and a cute pink bow on her tail. Happy ran over to her when she showed up and panted like a love struck idiot.**

**Pinky stuck his snout in Charle's face and huffed. "You brought a friend to meet me? Where is she? I wanna fight!"**

**Unperturbed, Charle looked deep into the pink dragon's ebony eyes. "She'll be here soon. She's -"**

**Just then a large something blotted out the evening sun and an eerie scream echoed and reverberated from the sky to the ground. Most of the party goers scattered, but Charle, Happy and Pinky stood where they were and waited. A few of the unicorns stayed, as did the band of goblins and troop of orcs. Some of the smaller tree fairies stayed as well as the dwarven folk who knew they could escape underground instantly if they needed to. The scary scream sounded again and the sound of flapping wings could be heard.**

**A golden yellow dragon dive bombed into the clearing and landed, almost side-swiping Pinky. Her thickly lashed chocolate eyes fluttered at Pinky and she said "Get the hell out of my way!" in the most beautiful voice Pinky had ever heard. "Move it freak! You're in the way of the food!"**

**Pinky moved out of the way, obeying the voice of reason without question. He watched Charle's friend stuff her maw with a gigantic piece of river monster fish and chomp it into tiny bits with her shiny, sharp teeth. Next, the golden dragon picked up a keg of beer and chugged it without pausing. She burped discreetly and shook out her wings. Snaking her head over her back, she nodded to her friend Charle and spoke to Happy. "Thanks for having me over to your party! See ya!"**

**Happy and Charle smiled at each other and went to go hang out in front of the bonfire. Pinky looked up in the sky where the golden yellow girl dragon was flying away fast and over to his best friend; his best friend who was giving all his attention to his girlfriend.**

**Bellowing a challenge, Pinky pumped his beautiful pink wings and launched himself after the oddly alluring female.**

**As soon as Pinky was out of sight, the rest of the party goers came back to the clearing and started enjoying themselves. Happy snuggled with Charle and a good time was had by all.**

**The End**

"Pinky and the Golden Dragon is a story for another night." As soon as Lucy put down the hand written manuscript, Natsu rolled Lucy underneath him and stared into her eyes.

"It could use a little bit more talk of fighting, but you've got me all fired up now!"

"I swear Natsu, everything is a trigger with you!" Lucy squirmed in his embrace, at first with determination and then with a plan. "Best two out of three naked wrestling for another pair of panties?"

"Hells ya!"


	23. Chapter 23: I Accept!

"I've been thinking, Lucy." Natsu was laying in bed, on his side, wearing a wide smile and bed sheets riding low on his hips. "I won our bet, but you still complain when we go to sleep. The terms of the bet preclude you from whining. You've given me some excellent stories, so we're good there, and the night-night kisses are fantastic. You've got to really work on the no complaining or you'll never fully discharge our bet."

Lucy rolled over to face him and look deeply into his eyes. "It's hard not to fuss when you keep stealing all my underwear. Happy told me what you do with it and it is driving me crazy! You hardly ever sleep at your house anymore at all! Why do you need a pillow made up of panties if you don't use it?"

"You're okay if I bring it over to use in your bed? You're the best Luce!" He quickly kissed his mate on the lips, pulling back before she could bite.

"That's not what I meant at all!" Lucy frowned at Natsu. "Oh - forget it. Bring the damn panty pillow over to our apartment."

Natsu's smile spread even wider. "You mean it?"

"Yah, yah. You can use the panty pillow here." Lucy rolled over and pulled the covers up higher.

"That's not what I was talking about Luce - you said 'our' apartment. Is that how you see things?"

Lightly flustered, Lucy rolled back, becoming entangled in her comforter. "Um, yes. Don't get too full of yourself, you've always spent a lot of time here with me. We're a mated pair...so I think of what's mine is yours and vice versa."

Natsu excitedly hugged Lucy. "This makes everything better! This means your bed is now my bed too! Our bed!"

"And this is where your minds goes to when I say we're a mated pair? My bed? Oh, sorry...our bed." Lucy rolled her eyes. "Hey, want another story?"

"In a bit Lucy. I wanted to ask you something. I was giving some thought to our housing situation."

Intrigued with his topic of conversation, Lucy calmed down and stopped growling. "I'm listening."

"What if we saved up and renovated my house and turned it into _our _house?" Natsu shifted his position and leaned over Lucy, putting one arm under her head and the other around her waist. "I want to always be with you. Being with you in our home, our bed, our everything. What do you say?" He grinned and kissed Lucy on the forehead.

"Wow, who are you and what have you done with Natsu?" Lucy whispered. "I'm not sure if I want you to switch back."

"Hey!" Natsu complained. "I occasionally think about the future - wouldn't you rather raise our kids where they can run free? Not have to worry about city crime, get lots of fresh air?"

"You do raise some cogent points Natsu. So these children of the future, how many?" Lucy stared into Natsu's onyx eyes. "Your house will need significant renovations - perhaps three more bedrooms and we'll need two bathrooms. Make the kitchen larger, or there's no point in renovating."

Now grinning smugly, Natsu trailed his index finger down Lucy's collar bone and between her breasts. "As many children as we decide. I want to be a father you can be proud of - there for you and our children."

Lucy's heart thumped loudly. His sincerity was potent and arousing. "Let's think about this some more, I'm not saying no, just, let's consider."

"Okay - I'm ready for another story then." Natsu rolled over to grab Lucy around the waist. "Begin!"

Giving the pink haired dragon slayer a good pinch, Lucy began reading:

**The gold dragon was flying fast towards her edge of the Enchanted Forest of Fiore. She was full of fish and beer, but still able to set an incredible pace. Her awesome dragon hearing noticed the steady wing beats of the pink dragon not too far behind. Screaming in defiance, she plummeted towards the ground and her dragon cave.**

**After entering, she quietly laid down against the wall and waited. A few dragon heartbeats later, she heard the pink dragon land and curse loudly. "Dammit! Where is she? I wanna fight! I think! I'm not sure! What the hell!"**

**The pink dragon was so confused sounding, the golden yellow dragon couldn't help but giggle at him.**

**"I hear you!" Pinky yelled and lumbered towards the cave he just now noticed. "Let's fight, or something!"**

**The female dragon screamed a challenge and Pinky started smirking. Her eerie screech was oddly seductive to the obtuse male dragon. "You sound like you want to be my girlfriend!"**

**Shocked, the female dragon stopped yelling.**

**Pinky trumpeted his own deep and throaty bellow. "Come on out and play!"**

**Slowly, she exited her cave and glared at the pink dragon. "What are you blathering about? Dragons don't play. We fight and eat, and fight some more."**

**His smirk even wider than before, Pinky fluttered his long eyelashes at the golden yellow female. "We play with our mates and dragon babies. Guess which one you are!"**

**Goldy, (for that was her name) had never dreamed to find a mate at her young age of 400. She was a little excited and very wary of Pinky's pronouncement. She was fully aware of who he was because **_**she**_** listened to her best friend Charle's stories about Happy and Pinky. Glaring and growling, she stalked towards the pink dragon.**

**Fearlessly, he sat there. Unperturbed, he allowed the fearsome golden yellow female to come closer and closer. "You make me feel funny."**

**Shocked into immobility, Goldy stood there with her mouth open. "Well, you make me feel angry!"**

**Letting a giant grin wreath his face, Pinky preened in front of the beautiful female. He shook out his wings and arched his neck, showing off his polished scales. He flexed his muscles and started a rumbling purr deep in his chest. "Like what you see?"**

**Goldy was flustered. The more she tried to intimidate the pink dragon, the more he showed off his shining scales, his magnificent wings, shiny talons and big muscles. The golden yellow dragon sat there and allowed Pinky to walk around and around, touching his tail with hers.**

**At the first contact of his tail; she hissed, instantly furious. Subsequent touches were brief and gradually she permitted their tails to lay entwined. Puffing up his chest even more than earlier, Pinky trumpeted a challenge to the sky.**

**"What are you doing?" shrieked Goldy. "You're gonna bring other dragons flying out of everywhere!"**

**"But I have to challenge somebody for you!" Pinky explained, "I'm claiming you! We gotta do things in the right order. I picked you as the fiercest female to be my mate. You let me get to first base with letting me get some tail. I've issued a challenge and now we wait to see who I fight so's I can keep you!"**

**"Baka!" the gold dragon yelled at Pinky.**

**"Weirdo!" the pink dragon said in a petulant tone of voice.**

**Suddenly a flock of dragons darkened the sky above Goldy and Pinky. Fierce cries thundered in the air. Goldy glared at the male dragon who was still holding her tail. "Look what you've done!"**

**Pinky smiled, allowing his fangs prominence. "Just wait until I fight! You'll be so impressed!"**

**A solid black dragon, two blue dragons, (one light blue and the other dark blue), a green dragon and three silver dragons dropped out of the sky to land abruptly in front of Goldy and Pinky.**

**"What's the meaning of all this caterwauling?" The largest dragon snapped. "We were hanging out at the dragon club all peaceful like and," he snaked his head toward Pinky. "**_**you**_** screamed so loud we had to investigate."**

**"I need to fight for my mate! Who's ready to go?" Pinky limbered up his wings and flexed the muscles of his legs.**

**The middle silver dragon whistled at Goldy. "Damn girl, you be fine! Wanna be mine?" He padded closer which made Pinky hiss in warning. Goldy didn't really like the extra attention and also hissed.**

**"Let's fight!" both dragons roared and launched themselves into the sky. Pinky climbed above the silver dragon and let out a giant blast of fire. The other dragon swerved his flight path to avoid becoming a cinder and spewed his own flames. They were pretty evenly matched. After an hour, they were still fighting high in the sky, trading attacks.**

**Goldy had gotten bored of watching and was chatting with the other dragons. She was a little embarrassed to have Pinky fighting over her, but she was also a tiny bit proud she had him as an admirer. Another hour passed and the group of dragons, except for the silver one fighting Pinky, left.**

**Another hour passed and Goldy gave up watching to go lay down and sleep in her cavern. Sometime in the middle of the night, she woke up to realize Pinky was snuggled up alongside of her, purring his contentment. She was tempted to yell at him, but figured it would be a lost cause.**

**In the morning, Pinky was still purring and had his tail twined with Goldy's tail. She was lightly dozing when he stuck his face close to hers to flare his nostrils and puffed air at her.**

**"Hey! What are you doing?"**

**"Silly! I won! We're gonna exchange our vows and live happily ever after!"**

**Goldy was flustered. She knew all the rules dragons lived by, but she'd never expected to move so fast with a dragon she had only met the day before. "Can't we take it slow?"**

**"Nope! I decided and you're mine! I fought for you fair and square." Pinky tilted his perfectly sculpted head at Goldy and fluttered his eyelashes. "Now you state your vows!"**

**Goldy frowned a truly terrible and scary face. "Baka!"**

**Pinky smiled and kissed her on the nose. "Close enough! I now pronounce us mates."**

**The End.**

"Natsu? You asleep? You didn't interrupt me even once." Lucy was puzzled.

"Luce? Are you ready to step forward into the future? I accept your proposal."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not stupid - the dragons in the story are us - only a weirdo like you would propose with a story." Natsu smiled and kissed Lucy on the nose.

For Reals, the end of Mission: It's a Bet!


End file.
